BARNWELL ST. ANDREW
Plan of Barnwell Castle
Beornwelle, Bernewelle (xi cent.); Bernewelle
Sancti Andree (xiii cent.); Bernewell Moyne (xiv
cent.); Barnwell, Barnwell Andree (xvi cent.);
Barnwell St. Andrew (xvii cent.).
This parish, to which Barnwell All Saints has been
ecclesiastically attached since 1821, covers 1,681 acres
on a subsoil of cornbrash in the west and centre and
Oxford clay in the east, the upper soil being mixed.
The principal crops are hay, wheat, barley and beans.
Barnwell St. Andrew lies low, rising from about
80 ft. above the ordnance datum on the bank of the
Nene, which bounds it on the north-west, to 117 ft.
at the church, and an average of 200 ft. east and
south-east of the village. A large tract of land in
the north and north-west is liable to floods. From
Barnwell All Saints on the south a stream flows northwards through the village of Barnwell St. Andrew
into the Nene. The principal road in the parish,
known as Barnwell Road, leads from Thrapston in a
north-westerly direction to Oundle. The Northampton and Peterborough branch of the London Midland and Scottish Railway runs in the same direction
on this road; Barnwell station is in the parish of
Lilford. The church of St. Andrew and its rectory
stand near the station and from the churchyard a
shady pathway leads over a single-arched bridge to
the ruins of Barnwell castle.
The ruins of the castle stand some 20 ft. above the
Barnwell Brook, up a small side valley opening on
to the main valley of the Nene, to the south-east of
the earthwork already described, (fn. 1) which is apparently
the site of an earlier castle. The position is one of
no military importance. The castle is a quadrangular
stone structure with round towers at the angles, and
a gatehouse at the south end of the east wall, which
has semi-cylindrical towers on either side of its outer
entrance. It is built throughout with oolite limestone,
probably from the quarries at Barnwell, (fn. 2) by Berengar
le Moyne in or about 1266 (fn. 3) and is a good example of
the type of stronghold erected when the strengthening
of outer walls and entrances had made the keep superfluous and the defence of the curtains had made necessary the multiplication of flanking towers. In 1257,
William de Stokes, canon of Salisbury and rector of
Barnwell St. Andrew, agreed that Berengar le Moyne
should have a chantry in his chapel in Barnwell Castle. (fn. 4)
Leland, in 1540, speaks of 'four strong towers, part
of Berengarius Moynes castle' as still remaining, and
mentions a 'meane house for a farmer' within the
ruins, which has long disappeared. (fn. 5) Half a century
or so later Camden described Barnwell Castle as 'a
little castle repaired and adorned with new buildings
by the worthy Sir Edward Montacute Knight.' (fn. 6)
Charles I was here on his way to Bedford in August,
1645, (fn. 7) and the place remained one of the residences
of the Montagu family until the latter part of the
17th century. In 1704, however, it was said to be
'late demolished' (fn. 8) and Stukeley in 1748 records that
the Duke of Montagu lamented that his father (who
died in 1709) had pulled the castle down. Buck's
view shows a great gap, or breach, 42 ft. wide, in the
western curtain wall, which was afterwards filled up,
but the filling is less than half the thickness of the
original wall.
To the south-east of the castle is a picturesque
stone-built house with many gables and chimneys,
probably the successor of the house mentioned by
Leland, on whose porch is a shield with the arms of
Montagu quartering Monthermer. (fn. 9) It is now the
residence of the lord of the manor.
There are no indications of a moat or true entrenchments of any kind, except on the north side, where
there is a broad embankment about 6 ft. high, 220 ft.
in length, but apparently not of early date.
The walls are now about 30 ft. high, probably little
less than their original height without the battlements, and are 12 ft. in thickness, the masonry being
excellent and with fine joints. The enclosed space,
or ward, is an irregular oblong, the greater length
being from north to south, with the corners (except
at the south-east) cut off by angle walls. On the east
side the length is 135 ft. 4 in., on the west 133 ft. 6 in.,
while the width is 90 ft. 8 in. at the north end, and
94 ft. 4 in. at the south. At the south-west corner
is a single circular tower, set angle-wise, and the
north-west and north-east corners have each a similar
tower with a smaller one attached on the south-west
and north-west sides, respectively. There is a small
postern gate at the north end of the west curtain
wall, but the main entrance, as already stated, is at
the south end of the east wall.
The gatehouse follows the normal plan of the period,
being a rectangle with a passage through the middle
and with projecting half-round towers on each side
of the entrance. The passage is entered through a
porch beneath a drop arch of three chamfered orders,
springing from clustered responds with moulded
capitals, and was guarded within the arch by a portcullis, the grooves for which remain in the wall on
either side. Further on are two other arches forming
the abutments for outer and inner pairs of gates,
beyond which is a round-headed doorway opening to
the courtyard. The passage is vaulted throughout.
The projection of the gatehouse is entirely towards the
outside and adjoining it on the south is a semicylindrical tower similar to those flanking the entrance.
All three bastions are entered from the courtyard by
round-headed doorways, and are almost identical in
plan, except that in the northern one there is a closet
about 3 ft. square in the thickness of the south
wall. The two lower chambers, or guard rooms,
have groined vaulting in two bays, with cross ribs
resting on moulded corbels, and contain each five
loopholes, three in the circular front and the others
in the side walls. The room in the south tower is
nearly square and has two loops low down facing
east and west and two others high up in the wall,
but the vaulting has been destroyed, the corbels and
springing of the ribs alone remaining. It is entered
from the court by an arched passage at the east end
of the south wall, twisted so as to bring the inner
doorway to the middle of the wall of the chamber.
Access to the upper floor of the gatehouse was by a
flight of steps from the court in the wall north of the
passage, here curved out; the doorway remains, but
the steps have been altered. They led to an oblong
apartment over the passage, lighted by a large window
at each end, that facing east being still entire; traces
only of the other remain. From this apartment
doorways led to large rooms in the flanking towers,
and from the southern one to the tower beyond. The
windows in these rooms are tall, narrow openings
with acutely pointed rear arches.
Barnwell Castle
Each of the three circular corner towers is entered
from the court by a round-headed doorway set across
the angle leading to a straight vaulted passage giving
into a circular chamber. In the south-west tower
the chamber has two loops only, commanding respectively the western and southern curtains; a small
vice in the thickness of the wall on the left of the
passage gave access to a large square room which
has a fireplace and mullioned window of two lights.
Above this was a similar room, also with fireplace and
window. These seem to have been the principal
living rooms.
The north-west tower has four loops in the lower
chamber, and on its south-west side is an attached
smaller tower containing a rectangular chamber,
formerly vaulted, with two loops, and between this
and the main tower another still smaller attached
tower, formerly containing the staircase to a room
above, which had a fireplace and wooden floor. The
north-east tower is very similar in plan and general
arrangement, with loops commanding the north and
east walls, smaller attached tower on the north side
and upper room. The doorway leading into it has
been rebuilt and the whole angle appears to have been
refaced in modern times.
All the buildings inside the
courtyard have disappeared, but
on the east curtain are fragments of cross walls between
which masonry is partially
plastered, indicating that it
was the east end of a large
apartment. Several parts of
the curtain inside have been
stripped of their facing stones,
leaving the rubble exposed.
Most of the loopholes have
two cross slits.
Latham's Hospital, which
stands across the road on the
south side of the church, was
rebuilt in 1873–4 in the old
style and is a gabled stone
building facing three sides of a
quadrangle, the fourth side
open on the north to the road.
The old gateway, dated 1601,
has been preserved in the enclosing fence wall. On it is the
inscription, 'Cast thy bread
upon the waters.'
Place names which occur are Boyespital, Jordones,
Alwoldeshallyate, Goldisplace, Childrebrigg, and
Fladerhill.
In the 14th century there was a town at Barnwell
with many tradesmen, and we find such names and
descriptions as gardener, washerwoman, 'le roper,'
weaver, 'barcar,' 'le woollemongere,' the smith,
'le parmenter,' the cobbler and the tailor in the deeds
of the Duke of Buccleuch.
There were also important
mills at Crowthorp.
Ramsey Abbey. Or a bend azure with three rams' heads argent thereon.
In 1921 the population
numbered 167 persons.
Manors
A charter of
Edward the Confessor confirmed
BARNWELL ST. ANDREW
to Ramsey Abbey as the gift
of Ethelric, Bishop of Dorchester, (fn. 10) who died in 1034; (fn. 11)
William I and Edward III
also confirmed this grant. (fn. 12) At
the Domesday Survey (1086) and again in the 11th
century, the land of St. Benedict of Ramsey included
six hides in Barnwell. (fn. 13) Between 1114 and 1130,
Abbot Reinald granted 'as an inheritance' [in hereditatem] to Reginald le Moyne, his tenant in Barnwell,
and to his sons, the lands which Reginald held of him
in this parish and elsewhere for 100s. a year and the
service of one knight's fee. (fn. 14) Reginald le Moyne
was the Abbey's tenant in Barnwell from about 1110
and possibly as early as 1091. (fn. 15) Berengar, his son, (fn. 16)
whose name appears as a witness to various deeds
between 1114 and 1163, (fn. 17) was succeeded in or before
1166 by his son, another Reginald le Moyne, (fn. 18) who
between the years 1184 and
1189 owed the service of one
knight to the abbot for a fee in
Northamptonshire. (fn. 19) He apparently had two sons, Berengar and Reginald, and was
succeeded by his grandson
Reginald, son of Berengar,
who was dead in 1248 when
William of York, Provost of
Beverley, was guardian of
his son and heir Berengar. (fn. 20)
In 1267 Berengar, who had
attained his majority before 1264, (fn. 21) was keeper of the
peace in Hunts. (fn. 22) and in 1270 he was one of the collectors of the 20th in that county. (fn. 23) Protection for
four years was granted him as a crusader in the same
year. (fn. 24) About 1266 he built the castle at Barnwell,
and in 1276 it was declared that he was holding a
market, fair and assize of bread and ale there without
known warrant. (fn. 25) In the same year William de Godmanchester, abbot of Ramsey, bought back the
manors of Barnwell, Hemington and Crowthorp and
other lands from Berengar le Moyne, as it is said, for
£1,666 13s. 4d. and for prayers for himself and for
the souls of his father Reginald and his mother Rose. (fn. 26)
The grant was confirmed by Berengar's widow
Emma in 1286. (fn. 27)
Le Moyne. Argent a cross paty gules.
Barnwell being held of the king in chief, questions
arose about its alienation at this time without the
king's licence. (fn. 28)
In 1329 John, son of Geoffrey of Southorpe, son
of Rose, daughter of Berengar and Emma, and Walter
Naunton, husband of Joan daughter of Margaret their
other daughter, sued the abbot for the manor of
Barnwell, which, as they alleged, had been settled on
Berengar le Moyne and his wife Emma and their
issue. (fn. 29) A verdict was given in favour of the Abbot, (fn. 30)
and eleven years later John of Southorpe's son Robert
released to Simon Abbot of Ramsey all his right in
the manor.
Montagu. Argent a fesse indented gules of three points and a border sable, for Montagu, quartering Or an eagle vert for Monthermer.
After the dissolution of Ramsey Abbey Henry VIII
in 1540 granted in tail the manor of Barnwell to Sir
Edward Montagu, Chief Justice of the King's
Bench, (fn. 31) who had been steward of the manor for
20 years. (fn. 32) Sir Edward also purchased from Ralph
Agard in 1553 (fn. 33) another estate which had belonged to
William Willington of Barcheston. A few months
later he was imprisoned for his opposition to the
succession of Lady Jane Grey. (fn. 34) Probably in confirmation of title Sir Edward Montagu, his eldest son
and heir by his third wife, Ellen daughter of John
Roper, attorney-general to Henry VIII, who
succeeded him in 1556, (fn. 35) bought the reversion of
the manor granted in tail to his father, from Queen
Elizabeth in 1602 for £153 3s. 9d. (fn. 36) He seems to
have made Barnwell Castle one of his residences, for
he left to his wife Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir James Harington of Exton, Rutland "all
my househoulde stuff in my
Castell of Barnewelle." (fn. 37) By
this lady he had seven sons, of
whom the second but eldest
surviving, another Edward,
succeeded him in January
1601–2. (fn. 38) A settlement made
by him rather more than two
years later included the manor
of Barnwell St. Andrew, as did
others in 1611 and 1634. (fn. 39) In
1604 Sir Edward and other
gentlemen of the county were
put from the Justiceship of the
Peace for favouring the Puritan ministers deprived of
their livings. (fn. 40) Later on he made his peace with the
king (fn. 41) and was created Baron Montagu of Boughton
in 1621. (fn. 42) As a royalist he incurred the displeasure of
the Parliamentary party and was imprisoned in the
Tower. In consideration for his advanced age, he
was allowed to withdraw to his dwelling in the Savoy,
where, in his 82nd year and still a prisoner, he died
on 15 June, 1644. (fn. 43) Edward his second surviving
son, by his second wife Frances Cotton, succeeded
him. He sat as one of Cromwell's lords in 1657. (fn. 44)
Edward, his eldest son by his wife Anne, daughter of
Sir Ralph Winwood, (fn. 45) was killed fighting against the
Dutch. On his death in 1683 he was succeeded
by his second son Ralph, (fn. 46) who with his third son
John settled Barnwell St. Andrew in 1704. (fn. 47) John
succeeded him four years afterwards in his later titles
of Marquis of Monthermer and Duke of Montagu, and
died with no surviving male issue in 1749. (fn. 48)
In accordance with an Act of Parliament passed in
1723, upon the marriage of his elder daughter Isabella
with the second Duke of Manchester, his entailed
estates including Barnwell St. Andrew should have
been divided between his two daughters and coheirs,
Isabella Dowager Duchess of Manchester, then the
wife of Edward Hussey, and Mary, who in 1730
had married George Brudenell, Earl of Cardigan. (fn. 49)
Each sister had an only son named John. The late
Duke had directed that this part of his inheritance
should be kept undivided and pass to his daughter
Mary and her issue, who were to pay to the Dowager
Duchess and her issue a moiety of the rents and
profits. (fn. 50) This arrangement was continued until the
death of the latest survivor of the four, Edward
Hussey-Montagu, Earl of Beaulieu, in 1802. (fn. 51) Mary
the younger of the two sisters died in 1775, having
survived her son five years, and in the following year
her husband, who had borne the titles of Marquis
of Monthermer and Duke of Montagu since 1766, (fn. 52)
held a moiety of Barnwell St. Andrew in conjunction
with their only surviving child Elizabeth and her
husband Henry Scott, Duke of Buccleuch. (fn. 53)
The manor then passed with the Buccleuch title
until 1913, when the present Duke sold it to Horace
Czarnikow, who in 1920 sold the castle to Mrs.
Bainbridge, now Mrs. W. H. McGrath. (fn. 54)
In 1086 there were two mills rendering 24s. in
Barnwell St. Andrew. (fn. 55) A grant of two weekly markets,
on Monday and Friday, and a fair on the vigil of St.
Michael and the six days following was made to
Berengar le Moyne in 1270. (fn. 56) This grant was
renewed to the Abbot of Ramsey eight years later,
when the market was to be held on Wednesdays only
but the fair was to remain as before. (fn. 57) These
privileges were disputed by the Abbot of Peterborough
in 1279 on the ground of the harm suffered therefrom
by his market at Oundle. A compromise was effected.
Market, pillory and tumbrel at Barnwell St. Andrew
were discontinued (fn. 58) and the men of Ramsey Abbey
in that parish were appointed to come before the
Peterborough bailiffs twice a year for view of frankpledge, the bailiff of Ramsey Abbey being allowed to
sit with the others and receive half the fines or profits
from the Abbot of Ramsey's villeins, but to exercise
no other jurisdiction. (fn. 59) A custom called 'physsilver'
or 'phisshesilver' was paid to the lord of this manor
in the 13th century. (fn. 60)
Church
The Church of ST. ANDREW consists
of chancel 27 ft. by 16 ft. 3 in. with north
vestry and organ chamber, clearstoried
nave 47 ft. by 18 ft. 6 in., north and south aisles, south
porch, (fn. 61) and west tower 7 ft. 6 in. square surmounted
by a broach spire. All these measurements are
internal.
No part of the building is older than the 13th
century, to which period the main portion belongs, and
the plan remained unaltered until 1873, when the
organ chamber was added in the re-entrant angle of
the north aisle and chancel. (fn. 62) The original work
began in the usual way at the east end about 1250,
and progressed westward to the tower, the upper part
of which, with the clearstory, is in the geometrical
style of about 1290. It is not unlikely, however,
that the building proceeded without serious interruption over a number of years, covering more or less
the latter half of the 13th century, though the
architectural detail of the chancel arch, nave arcades,
south doorway, porch, and lower part of the tower
is of the earlier type. The north doorway and the
windows of the aisles are 14th century insertions,
and in the 15th century the chancel was largely
reconstructed, new windows being inserted and the
upper part of the walls rebuilt.
The church is built throughout of rubble with
ashlar dressings and has plain parapets and low-pitched
lead roofs. The chancel is without buttresses and
has an original string course below the sill level and
a 13th century moulded priest's doorway with
rounded arch on jamb shafts with moulded capitals
and bases. The 15th century east window is of
five cinquefoiled lights with four-centered head and
transom at mid-height, but the mullions and tracery
are modern (1851). The two-light window at the
eastern end of the north wall was originally farther
west, but was moved to its present position when the
organ chamber was built. In the south wall are two
15th century windows, the easternmost, high up in
the wall, of three cinquefoiled lights and Perpendicular
tracery, and the other of two lights. The north
wall is open at its west end by a modern arch to the
organ chamber, and the roof is a modern one of three
bays. The double sedilia, under the easternmost
south window, belong to the 15th century reconstruction and have crocketed ogee canopied arches;
the seats are level. The piscina is modern, or a
restoration. The chancel arch is of two chamfered
orders supported by corbelled shafts with richly
moulded capitals.
The 13th century nave arcades consist of three
pointed arches of two chamfered orders springing
from piers composed of four filletted shafts with
moulded capitals and bases, except at the west end
on the north side, where there is a plain circular
pier with more simply moulded capital and chamfered
base. The responds follow the design of the shafted
piers. (fn. 63) The rood-loft doorway remains in position
over the easternmost arch of the south arcade and
part of the stairs at the end of the aisle. The
clearstory has three pointed windows on each side,
of two grouped lancets with quatrefoil in the head
under a containing arch, and the parapet is carried
on an original corbel table. At the east end of the
south aisle is a trefoiled lancet, on either side of which
internally is a crocketed ogee niche of 14th century
date, which with the window formed a reredos to the
aisle altar. In the south wall, in the usual position,
is a plain pointed piscina with cusped bowl, and above
it a small round-headed opening with sloping sill,
which in spite of its height above the ground seems
to have been a lowside window. (fn. 64) The two 14th
century windows in the south wall are square-headed
of two trefoiled lights, and there is reason to believe
that the wall was rebuilt when they were erected. (fn. 65)
The pointed west window of this aisle is
c. 1280 of two elongated trefoiled lights
with moulded jambs.
The south doorway is a very good example of 13th century work, of two moulded
orders, the outer ornamented with dogtooth, on double jamb shafts with moulded
capitals and bases, the inner shafts banded
at mid-height. The porch has a wide
gable with plain coping, stone slated roof,
and pointed outer arch of two hollow
chamfered orders, and large nail-head hoodmould with mask terminations, on shafted
jambs with moulded capitals. (fn. 66) There is
a sundial in the gable.
The north doorway is equally good 14th
century work, of two moulded orders, on
shafted jambs, the capitals carved with oak
leaves on either side of a human head, (fn. 67)
and the windows in the north wall are all
pointed and of two trefoiled lights. That
formerly at the east end of the aisle is
now in the north wall of the organ chamber; the west window is of earlier type,
of two plain lights with quatrefoil in the
head. At the east end of the aisle, originally below the window, is a 14th century
reredos consisting of three crocketed ogee
trefoiled arches, the middle one wider than
the others, with a band of quatrefoils and
heads above, (fn. 68) and on the east respond
of the arcade adjoining, at a height of
34 inches from the floor, a small projecting trefoil
headed niche.
The tower is of three stages with moulded plinth
and projecting vice in the south-east angle, but is
without buttresses. The upper stage has a slight
setback, and the bell-chamber windows are of two
trefoiled lights with quatrefoil above, mid-shafts,
and moulded jambs, the arches richly ornamented
with dog-tooth and flowers in the outer order. The
spire has plain angles and three sets of lights on each
of its cardinal faces. The west doorway is of two
moulded orders on shafted jambs with moulded
capitals and bases, and above it is a window of two
trefoiled lights. In the middle stage on the south
side is a circular moulded opening enriched with
dog-tooth and flower ornament. The tower arch is
of three chamfered orders dying into the wall.
The font is of early 14th century date, and has a
richly ornamented bowl with cusped and crocketed
niches on seven sides, the west face being blank.
The oak pulpit is of Elizabethan, or early 17th
century date, with arcaded panels; it stands on a
modern stone base. The other fittings are modern.
Barnwell St. Andrew: The South Porch
The monument to Nicholas Latham (d. 1620),
founder of the hospitals at Barnwell and Oundle, after
removal from the chancel to the chapel in 1873, was
re-erected on the north wall of the chancel about
1907. It is coloured and bears the bust of Latham,
who is described as 'parson of this church only the
space of 51 years.' On the south wall is a brass plate
to John Orton, 'first warden of Parson Latham's
hospital,' who died in 1607 'in the yeare of his age
101,' and another with Latin inscription, formerly
in All Saints' Church, to the memory of Christopher
Freeman (d. 1610), who is depicted kneeling with
his wife and eight children at an altar. (fn. 69) In the south
aisle is a floor slab to John and Robert Carter, who
died in September and November 1698, and a painted
board in the north aisle commemorates Elizabeth,
daughter of William Worthington, rector; she died
in 1665.
There is some old glass in one of the south windows
of the chancel and in a window in the belfry. (fn. 70)
There are two bells in the tower, the first medieval,
with the letter S three times alternating with a cross
patonce and a mark generally ascribed to Richard
Mellor of Nottingham (1488–1508); the second bell
is by Thomas Norris, 1658. (fn. 71)
The plate consists of a cup of 1570, a paten of
c. 1684, a dish of 1636, a flagon of 1869, a modern
medieval chalice of 1871, and a paten of 1872. (fn. 72)
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (1)
baptisms, marriages and burials 1558–1727; (ii)
baptisms and burials 1727–1812, marriages 1727–53;
(iii) marriages 1754–1812. In the second volume
is a list of briefs 1741–3, and several lists of the
'warden, sub-warden, brethren, sisters and nurses
of Mr. Nicholas Latham's Hospital in Barnwell,'
1744–50. The churchwardens' accounts begin in
1742.
Advowson
There was a priest in Barnwell
St. Andrew in 1086 (fn. 73) but no direct
mention of the church itself seems to
be preserved before 1178 when Pope Alexander confirmed to Ramsey Abbey among many other of its
possessions Barnwell with its church. (fn. 74) At that date,
however, both manor and advowson belonged to the
earlier Berengar le Moyne (see above) and the rights
assured to the Abbot were those of overlordship
merely. The advowson has followed the descent
of the manor down to 1920, when Mr. Czarnikow sold
the manor but retained the advowson. The rectory
has also followed the same descent. A carucate of
land and six acres belonged to it in the 13th century (fn. 75)
and in 1535 its profits amounted to £17 12s. 6d. (fn. 76)
The rector also received one sheaf from the tithes of
the lord in Barnwell St. Andrew, the other two,
formerly of Berengar le Moyne, being afterwards
paid to the sacristan, who had a portion of £2 13s. 4d.
in the church. (fn. 77) By an Act of 1830 all ancient tithes
and glebeland in the united parishes of Barnwell St.
Andrew and Barnwell All Saints were commuted for
31 acres 1 rood 2 perches of land annexed to the rectory
and an annual rent of £440. (fn. 78) The parsonage house
of the 16th century (fn. 79) was rebuilt by the Dowager
Duchess of Buccleuch about 1820. (fn. 80)
There was a chapel in the Castle. (fn. 81) The church has
always been dedicated to St. Andrew. (fn. 82)
Charities
Parson Latham's Hospital in
Barnwell, founded and incorporated
pursuant to the Statute 39 Eliz.
cap. 5 by Deed Poll dated 21 February, 1 James I. (1604)
and including the charity of William Bigley for the
inmates founded by will proved in Prerogative
Court of Canterbury 11 Oct. 1834, is regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 2 Feb.
1923. The general property of the charity consists
of the almshouse buildings, land situated in the
counties of Huntingdon and Northampton and comprising about 350 acres, rent-charges of £20 issuing
out of hereditaments in Pilton, Stoke Doyle and
Wadenhoe and two cottages at Ringstead and Clapton.
The Ringstead property consists of 109 a. 2 r. 12 p.
of land with farm and cottages at Ringstead and a
sum of £25 Consols. The Shelton property consists
of 66 acres of land in Shelton in the county of
Bedford. The endowment of Bigley's Charity
consists of a sum of £1,755 6s. 7d. Consols which
forms the Repair Fund and any income not required
for repairs is invested in augmentation of the fund.
Of the income from the Ringstead lands 43/44ths is
paid to the trustees of the Latham and Bigley
Educational Foundation. The land belonging to the
hospital produced £462 10s. in 1923 and £224 17s. 6d.
was paid to the inmates, £10 spent on medical
attendance, and £7 distributed to poor of Rushden,
Ringstead and Higham Ferrers. The stock is with
the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds.
The Montagu Dole.—A sum of 6s. 8d. yearly is
payable out of the estates of Lord Montagu for
distribution to the poor. The origin of the charity is
unknown.