BARTLOW
Bartlow is one of the smallest parishes in Cambridgeshire. (fn. 1) It covered 377 a. until 1965 when 7 ha.
were transferred from Ashdon (Essex). In 1971 it
covered 156 ha. (385 a.). (fn. 2) It lies 12 miles south-east
of Cambridge, 5½ miles north-east of Saffron Walden (Essex), and 5½ miles west of Haverhill (Suff.).
The parish boundary follows on the west the road
from Ashdon to West Wratting, on the north a bank
called Bartlow Broad Balk, on the east in part an
old field-path stopped up at inclosure, (fn. 3) and on the
south a stream and an irregular line which was
straightened after the construction of the railway in
1865. (fn. 4) The south-west corner of the parish is at the
point where the river Bourne from the south, a
stream flowing through Bartlow from the east, and
a stream from the north join to form the river
Granta. The stream flowing through Bartlow was
diverted and straightened before 1837, (fn. 5) but in 1974
it had been dry for several years.
Pieces of land within Ashdon parish, adjoining
the county boundary with Castle Camps and together
covering 1,072 a., formed what was known as Bartlow End, Stevington End, or Bartlow hamlet, (fn. 6) formerly part of Bartlow parish although they were in
Essex. In an area that was heavily wooded as late
as the 14th century (fn. 7) county boundaries were perhaps
established early but approximately, according to
geographical features such as the ridge between
Ashdon and Castle Camps, whereas tenurial boundaries, and following them parish boundaries, were
at a later date given precision as settlement slowly
extended. In 1086 Bartlow was probably part of the
estate of Aubrey de Vere, based on Castle Camps,
as was part of Stevington; (fn. 8) the geographical position of Overhall, Winsey Farm, Bourne, and perhaps Newnham Hall, all part of Bartlow End (fn. 9) and
all settlements separate from Ashdon in the 13th
century, (fn. 10) suggests that they were colonized westwards from Castle Camps rather than eastwards
from Ashdon. The name of Westoe, close to Bartlow, suggests that it too was settled westwards from
Castle Camps, and Bartlow was hidated in Castle
Camps c. 1235. (fn. 11) Inhabitants of Bartlow End
attended Bartlow church and paid church-rates to it
until the 20th century, but in 1801 agriculture in
the hamlet was integrated with that in Ashdon. (fn. 12)
The hamlet relieved its poor separately from Bartlow, (fn. 13) and therefore was accounted a separate civil
parish in the 19th century, lying in the Linton
poor-law union, but it was united with Ashdon civil
parish in 1946. (fn. 14)
The highest point in the parish, at its north-east
corner, lies just under 300 ft., but the village and
the land by the stream are below 200 ft. Bartlow
lies on the Upper Chalk, and its soil is chalky, with
some gravel and clay. The parish is entirely agricultural, and was cultivated in open fields until
inclosure in 1863. (fn. 15)
The Bartlow Hills, said to be the finest RomanoBritish burial mounds in Britain, (fn. 16) stand south of
and close to Bartlow village, though only one of the
four surviving mounds stands inside the parish
boundary. Although they were long believed to
cover the bodies of those slain at the battle of
Ashingdon (Assandun) in 1016, (fn. 17) excavation showed
them to be the graves of a wealthy family of a.d. 80140. A small Roman villa north of the mounds,
occupied into the later 4th century, was excavated
in 1852. (fn. 18)
Bartlow, first mentioned in 1232 (fn. 19) though the
church is of the late 11th or early 12th century,
appears to have originated as a subsidiary settlement
to Castle Camps, as suggested above. A lost 'Brining', recorded in 1207, (fn. 20) may have been close to
Bartlow or held with it. Bartlow had 32 tenants in
1279 and 32 people paid the poll tax in 1377. (fn. 21)
There were 20 households in Bartlow in 1563, though
only 11 were taxed in 1674. (fn. 22) The village contained
15 families in 1728, (fn. 23) and the rector counted 88 inhabitants in 1782. (fn. 24) Apart from a fall to 56 people
in 1811, the population of Bartlow village fluctuated
between 82 and 123 from 1801 until 1921, after
which there was a slow decline. The population in
1971 was 70. (fn. 25)
Bartlow village lies in the south-west corner of the
parish, in the south-east angle of the cross-roads
formed by the road from Linton to Castle Camps
and Shudy Camps and the road from Ashdon to
West Wratting. It is a small, compact settlement,
bounded on the east by the grounds of Bartlow Park,
originally belonging to Bartlow House. Bartlow Hall
and the rectory were the only large houses in the
village in the later 17th century; (fn. 26) a row of 16thcentury cottages, called Maltings Cottages, stands
east of the road to Ashdon, and the Three Hills is
a 17th-century cottage with 18th-century and later
extensions. North of the Linton-Camps road are
the Dower House, built in the early 19th century
as Bartlow Cottage, (fn. 27) and Chetwynd House, formerly the school. The village has not expanded in
the 20th century and Bartlow Park is the only new
building there. At the point where the stream crosses
the Ashdon road there was a ford and footbridge
until 1931, when a brick bridge was built. (fn. 28)
There were two alehouses in Bartlow in 1682. (fn. 29)
Inn-keepers were buried in 1736 and 1790, (fn. 30) and
the Three Hills was a public house in 1847 (fn. 31) and
1974.
The railway from Shelford to Haverhill (Suff.),
which runs across the southern edge of the parish
south of the river, was opened in 1865, (fn. 32) and an
extension to Saffron Walden, diverging at Bartlow,
in 1866. Bartlow station, at the railway bridge over
the Ashdon road, was closed in 1967 with the line
to Haverhill, (fn. 33) and was converted into a private
house called Booking Hall.
Benefit clubs for rent, coal, clothing, and shoes
were run in Bartlow village and hamlet in the early
20th century. (fn. 34) The Bartlow feast was held on 2 June
in 1753. (fn. 35)
Manor.
Bartlow was not among the estates of
Count Alan of Richmond before 1086, (fn. 36) and it was
therefore probably part of the 2½-hide estate at
Castle Camps of Aubrey de Vere, held T.R.E. by
the thegn Wulfwin. (fn. 37) By c. 1235, however, the manor
of BARTLOW, or BARTLOW HALL, was held
under the earl of Oxford as of the honor of Richmond, (fn. 38) and it was said to be part of that honor until
the 16th century. (fn. 39) Alice of Ashdon held land in
'Brining' before 1207, (fn. 40) and Ralph of Ashdon and
Maurice of Bartlow c. 1235 held 1 knight's fee in
Bartlow, hidated in Castle Camps with land in
Finchingfield (Essex). (fn. 41) In 1269 the manor was
granted to William of Chishill by Robert Gikel, (fn. 42)
whose family held a fee at Finchingfield. (fn. 43) Sir William held the lordship as ¼ fee of Gikel's heirs in
1279 (fn. 44) and 1282, (fn. 45) and John of Chishill held it of
another Robert Gikel before 1299 (fn. 46) and in 1316 (fn. 47)
and 1325. (fn. 48) In 1331 John granted the reversion after
his death to John Hotham, bishop of Ely (d. 1337), (fn. 49)
whose probable heir Sir John Hotham (d. 1351)
vindicated his right to the advowson against John
son of William of Chishill in 1349. (fn. 50) The manor was
subsequently acquired by William of Clopton, perhaps the eldest son of Sir William of Clopton who
in 1347 bought Newnham manor, Ashdon. (fn. 51) In
1374 William's widow Avice quitclaimed Bartlow
to Isabel, probably his daughter and heir, and her
husband John Mohaut of Kingston, (fn. 52) also called
John Kingston, (fn. 53) dead by 1392, when she had married William Clipston. (fn. 54) Clipston was murdered in
1406, (fn. 55) and the manor passed under an entail to
Robert Kingston, a son of John and Isabel. (fn. 56) Robert
lived at Bartlow in 1434 and held the manor in 1440. (fn. 57)
Before 1459, however, the lordship had passed to
John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, (fn. 58) and descended to
his son Edward in 1470. When Edward died unmarried in 1485 (fn. 59) Bartlow was assigned to his father's
sister Joan, widow of Sir Edmund Ingoldisthorpe, (fn. 60)
and on her death in 1494 passed to her granddaughter Isabel, wife of William Huddleston and
later of Sir William Smith. (fn. 61) Isabel's heir in 1516
was her son John Huddleston of Sawston (d. 1530),
to whose widow Elizabeth, who married secondly
Sir Thomas Butler, Bartlow was awarded in dower. (fn. 62)
Her son John Huddleston was lord of Bartlow before
his death in 1557, and was succeeded by his son Sir
Edmund (d. 1606). (fn. 63) Edmund's son Henry held
Bartlow in 1624, (fn. 64) but later sold the manor and
advowson to Jon Baker, rector of Bartlow (d. 1639). (fn. 65)
Baker's son Jon (d. 1645) (fn. 66) left three daughters as
coheirs and the manor was divided between them.
Blaise Pratt, husband of the eldest daughter Anne
(d. 1668), improved the Hall and estate despite
opposition from Anthony Bettenham, reputed husband of the second daughter Elizabeth (d. 1696); (fn. 67)
Pratt presented to the rectory in 1667, (fn. 68) apparently
lived in the Hall in 1672, (fn. 69) and was buried at Bartlow in 1689. (fn. 70) Elizabeth Mapletoft (d. 1717)
inherited a third of the advowson, and presumably
of the manor, and purchased the other two-thirds. (fn. 71)
By 1750 the lordship was held by Edmund Mapletoft, rector of Bartlow 1711–50, whose widow and
son Edmund sold it in 1751 to Francis Dayrell of
Shudy Camps. (fn. 72) The manor descended in the Dayrell family until the late 19th century. (fn. 73) The Revd.
Thomas Dayrell was awarded 178 a. in Bartlow at
inclosure in 1862. (fn. 74) The manor was offered for sale
with the estate in 1891 after the death of C. L.
Dayrell, (fn. 75) and was apparently bought with the Dayrells' Shudy Camps estate in 1898 by Arthur Gee
(d. 1903). (fn. 76) Bartlow Hall farm was sold again in
1903, presumably with the lordship, to the Revd.
C. H. Brocklebank, a prominent landowner and
farmer who had bought Bartlow House in 1899. (fn. 77)
On his departure from the village in 1927 the lordship passed to his son C. G. Brocklebank, (fn. 78) who
sold the estate in 1936 to Lord De Ramsey, lord
lieutenant of Huntingdonshire. (fn. 79) In 1962 it was
purchased from him by Lt.-Col. (later Brig.) A. N.
Breitmeyer, (fn. 80) the owner in 1974.
There was a manor-house at Bartlow in 1279, (fn. 81)
and in 1397 William Clipston's manor-house was
attacked by his enemies. (fn. 82) The manor was known as
Bartlow Hall in the mid 15th century; (fn. 83) Lady Butler
in 1540 leased the 'hall or chief farm place' of Bartlow, (fn. 84) and the hall served as the farm-house for the
Bartlow estate from the later 15th century when the
lords of the manor no longer lived in the parish. The
present house, known as the Old Hall, stands southwest of the church by the river and dates from the
later 16th century; it was ruinous in the 1650s, was
extensively repaired by Blaise Pratt, (fn. 85) and had
9 taxable hearths in 1665 and 1672. (fn. 86) Minor additions were made to the south in the 18th century
and there was much restoration in the 19th.
Bartlow House was mentioned in 1768 when it
was in separate ownership from the manor. (fn. 87)
Thomas Barnard, the occupant since at least 1824, (fn. 88)
sold the house in 1846 to Mrs. Maria Cotton, (fn. 89)
whose kinsman Richard Archer Houblon lived there
from c. 1858 to c. 1892 and added to the park. (fn. 90) His
heir Col. G. B. Archer Houblon sold it in 1899 to
the Revd. C. H. Brocklebank, and Bartlow House
became the residence of the lords of the manor. The
house, which stood north of the churchyard on the
Linton-Camps road and had over 20 a. of park in
1899, burned down in 1947, leaving its stables and
out-buildings which were converted into accommodation for employees of the estate. (fn. 91) Brig. Breitmeyer
built a large new house called Bartlow Park, east
of the site of Bartlow House, after 1962.
Ickworth priory (Suff.) was said in 1254 and 1341
to hold property in Bartlow, (fn. 92) but had no estate
there in the 16th century. (fn. 93)
Economic History.
In 1279 William of Chishill, lord of Bartlow, held 66 a. of arable, 5 a. of
meadow, and 2 a. of pasture in demesne, but had
only three tenants, who owned no arable. Some
30 other free tenants held directly of the earl of
Oxford or of his tenants, and occupied c. 53 a. Three
owned together 26 a., no others over 4 a. Almost all
paid only small money-rents; three each had to send
one man to 3 boon-works in harvest for the earl. (fn. 94)
Bartlow was mainly arable, and the parish assessment for tax in 1341 was reduced because 200 a.
had gone out of cultivation. (fn. 95) The lord of the
manor's property in 1397 included 40 qr. of barley,
24 qr. of wheat, 6 qr. of oats, 3 qr. of peas, some
malt, and a haystack. (fn. 96) Nonetheless, Bartlow contributed 21½ stone of wool to the tax in 1347, of which
9 stone came from Elizabeth, widow of Nicholas de
Beauchamp. (fn. 97)
The main crops mentioned in the 16th and 17th
centuries were wheat and rye, (fn. 98) and the rector also
collected tithes on cows, pigs, wool and lambs,
eggs, cheese, honey, wax, apples, and wood. (fn. 99) Bartlow Hall farm was almost all arable in 1550; (fn. 100) in the
1650s Blaise Pratt improved the farm and sowed
wheat and rye, but Anthony Bettenham contended
that the land should lie fallow for seven years, and
refused to till the fields. (fn. 101) The Hall farm was the only
one in Bartlow, although parts of the parish were
farmed from Horseheath; (fn. 102) as a result no group of
yeomen developed in the parish, and there were only
two substantial taxpayers in 1524. (fn. 103) The common
fields of the parish, mentioned in the 17th century
and later, were Bartlow field, which included all the
land north of the Linton-Camps road, and Churchmeadow field south of the stream. (fn. 104) Stocking, Longmeadow, Deane, and Hadstock fields were probably
just outside the parish boundary in neighbouring
parishes, for the Hall farm and rectorial glebe both
included land outside Bartlow: (fn. 105) in 1792 the Hall
farm covered 157 a., of which 20 a. were in Essex. (fn. 106)
In the 18th century a threefold rotation was practised, and the principal crop was wheat; barley, oats,
turnips, clover, and trefoil were also grown. (fn. 107) Wool
and lambs formed a considerable part of the tithes,
and Thomas Hayward, tenant of Bartlow Hall farm
1762–95, kept c. 200 sheep. (fn. 108) The farm was leased
with a right of sheep-fold in 1540, (fn. 109) and there were
shepherds in Bartlow from the 17th to the 19th century. (fn. 110) Three flocks had rights of sheepwalk in
Bartlow and the hamlet, most of the suitable land
being shared between them, though the Hall farm
had exclusive rights over 37 a. (fn. 111) In 1801 just over
half the arable in the parish was under barley, with
33 a. of wheat and smaller amounts of oats, rye,
peas, and turnips or rape. (fn. 112) Sainfoin was tried in
1806. (fn. 113)
About 86 a. had been inclosed by 1753, (fn. 114) but many
holdings were still in strips in 1837 and 1848. (fn. 115)
Bartlow was inclosed with Shudy and Castle Camps
in 1862, under the Second Annual Inclosure Act,
1858. (fn. 116) Land was exchanged between estates in the
three parishes; the Revd. Thomas Dayrell, as lord
of Bartlow manor, received 178 a. in Bartlow, the
rector 32½ a., and Stanlake Batson of Horseheath
78 a. The trustees of Linton meeting-house with
13 a. and Henry, Viscount Maynard with 4 a. were
the only others to receive land in Bartlow. (fn. 117) The
Hall farm was said to comprise 340 a. in 1851, (fn. 118) and
396 a. in 1891 of which 193 a. lay in Bartlow. (fn. 119)
Bartlow House and the Dower House both had
farm buildings, (fn. 120) but the Hall farm was the only
establishment large enough to employ many
labourers and provided most of the work in the
parish. (fn. 121) The Revd. C. H. Brocklebank of Bartlow
in the early 20th century owned and farmed
c. 1, 250 a. in Cambridgeshire and Essex; he kept
a well known flock of Hampshire Down sheep, and
a herd of pedigree Shorthorns, and served as president of the Cambridgeshire Agricultural Society
1918–19 and the Dairy Shorthorn Society 1930–1. (fn. 122)
Bartlow has remained largely arable since inclosure, (fn. 123)
and the main crops are wheat and barley, with oats,
beans, and sugar-beet. (fn. 124) Almost all the inhabitants
are employed by the local landowner on the estate,
and no other form of employment has arisen in
Bartlow. (fn. 125)
The malting trade expanded in the parish in the
18th century, (fn. 126) there was a malting-house in 1819, (fn. 127)
and brewers and maltsters were recorded in the
1840s and 1850s, (fn. 128) but later disappeared.
Local Government.
In 1279 the earl of
Oxford was said to hold view of frankpledge and
the assizes of bread and of ale in Bartlow; (fn. 129) no
evidence of the holding of manorial courts, or of
copyhold tenure, has been found in the parish.
There were two constables in 1377, (fn. 130) and one in the
1750s. Bartlow hamlet had its own churchwarden in
1749. (fn. 131) There were separate overseers of the poor
for the village and hamlet, and poor-relief in the
two settlements was administered separately; more
people were usually relieved in the hamlet than
in the village, and it had higher poor-rates in the
18th century. (fn. 132) Annual expenditure on the poor in
Bartlow fluctuated sharply in the late 18th and early
19th century, reaching peaks of £115 in 1813 and
£112 in 1833, although it could be as low as £40
or £50. (fn. 133) The parish became part of the Linton
poor-law union in 1835, and part of the South
Cambridgeshire R.D. in 1934, (fn. 134) remaining in South
Cambridgeshire in 1974. Bartlow hamlet was also
included in the Linton poor-law union in 1835, but by
1911 was part of the Saffron Walden R.D., in which
it remained after amalgamation with Ashdon civil
parish in 1946, (fn. 135) becoming part of the Uttlesford
district in 1974.
Church.
In spite of the belief that Bartlow
church was built by King Cnut near the site of the
battle of Ashingdon (Assandun) in the early 11th
century, (fn. 136) no documentary references to the church
have been found earlier than the 13th century, and
the building dates from the late 11th or early 12th.
The advowson belonged to Sir William of Chishill
in 1279, (fn. 137) and descended with the lordship until
c. 1751. The advowson was conveyed to feoffees in
1393, (fn. 138) and in 1399 granted for life to John Sleaford,
rector of Balsham, (fn. 139) who presented in 1400. (fn. 140)
Robert Kingston, lord of the manor, presented in
1437. (fn. 141) When the next vacancy occurred, in 1469,
three different rectors were presented by Thomas
Westley, John, earl of Worcester, and John, earl of
Oxford; the earl of Worcester's right was upheld in
1470, (fn. 142) and his son's guardian and stepfather, Sir
William Stanley, presented in 1472 and 1480. (fn. 143) The
bishop collated by lapse c. 1500, (fn. 144) but all subsequent
16th-century incumbents were presented by members of the Huddleston family, lords of the manor,
although Margery Blodwell attempted to present in
1526. (fn. 145) Jon Baker, the rector, bought the advowson
with the manor after 1624, his son presented in
1639, (fn. 146) and the patron in 1667 was Blaise Pratt,
husband of one of the younger Baker's three coheirs.
Elizabeth Mapletoft, widow, perhaps of Edmund
Mapletoft, inherited a third of the advowson and
purchased the other two-thirds. (fn. 147) She presented to
the living in 1704 and 1711, William Mapletoft in
1750, each naming a relative, and Edmund Mapletoft, son of the late rector, in 1772, being subsequently presented himself by Robert Fiske in 1775. (fn. 148)
In 1782 William Hall presented Joseph Hall, probably his son. (fn. 149) His successor John Bullen, rector
1828–63, may have been presented by a descendant
of William Hall's daughter, Elizabeth Bullen, and
himself owned the advowson in 1836. (fn. 150) Robert Watkins was said to be patron by 1858, and held the
rectory himself 1866–72. (fn. 151) The Revd. H. S. Patterson apparently presented himself to the living in
1872, (fn. 152) and H. and F. Bullard presented in 1877. (fn. 153)
In 1894 Lt.-Col. W. C. Western nominated his son
W. T. Western, and his executors were patrons in
1904. (fn. 154) The advowson of Bartlow thereafter belonged to the Revd. C. H. Brocklebank until 1927,
and then to his son C. G. Brocklebank, and later to
his executors. (fn. 155) In 1972 the patronage was exercised
by Brig. A. N. Breitmeyer. (fn. 156)
The rectory was taxed at 100s. in 1254 and
16 marks in 1291. (fn. 157) It was exempted from taxation
for poverty in 1487, (fn. 158) but in 1535 was worth
£19 16s. 8d., being the fourth richest living in the
deanery. (fn. 159) It was worth £100 a year in 1650 and
1728, (fn. 160) and £259 net c. 1830. (fn. 161) After commutation
of tithes its value rose to £347 in 1851 and £460 in
1877. (fn. 162)
In addition to the great and small tithes from
Bartlow, rectors received tithes from small plots in
West Wickham and Horseheath and from Bartlow
hamlet in Ashdon. (fn. 163) Individual farmers made agreements for the composition of their tithes in the
1720s, and when corn tithes in the hamlet were
offered in kind in 1776 it was thought inconvenient. (fn. 164)
In 1767 Edmund Mapletoft successfully sued the
tenant of Bartlow Hall farm and the rector of Ashdon concerning tithes of wool and lambs, which he
claimed in kind. (fn. 165) The tithes were commuted in
1848, (fn. 166) and the rent-charge yielded £281 10s. in
1851. (fn. 167)
The church was endowed with 30½ a. in 1279, (fn. 168)
and the glebe comprised 64½ a. in 1663. (fn. 169) On the
inclosure of West Wickham in 1813 1½ a. were
allotted to the rector of Bartlow in place of tithes. (fn. 170)
There were 66 a. of glebe in 1851; (fn. 171) the rector of
Bartlow received 23 a. in Ashdon that year at inclosure, (fn. 172) and 32½ a. at the inclosure of Bartlow in
1863. (fn. 173) The rector still had 55 a. in 1900, (fn. 174) but by
1933 only 2 a. lying in Horseheath remained. (fn. 175)
There was a rectory house in 1279 (fn. 176) and in 1355. (fn. 177)
Jon Baker was accused of letting the house lie desolate in 1643, (fn. 178) but in 1663 it had 18 rooms, 2 barns,
and extensive out-buildings, (fn. 179) and was taxed on
6 hearths in the 1660s. (fn. 180) Rectors of Bartlow lived in
the house, which stood on the south side of the
churchyard, from the 16th century to the 19th. Considerable additions and repairs were made to the
house c. 1835 by John Bullen, the incumbent. (fn. 181) In
1928 the rectory was pulled down, and C. G.
Brocklebank gave Crossways House as a rectory. (fn. 182)
From 1946 Bartlow was held with other livings,
incumbents were no longer resident, and Crossways
House was sold in 1950. (fn. 183)
An anchorite at Bartlow in 1279 owned 1½ a. (fn. 184)
There was a chaplain there in 1366, 1406, (fn. 185) and
1468. (fn. 186) John Fesant, rector in 1399, was licensed to
study in Cambridge for three years, as was his successor Richard Hert in 1402 and 1405. (fn. 187) Arthur
Dudley, rector 1526–77, held two other livings, in
Staffordshire and Cheshire, and lived at Lichfield
where he was a prebendary; (fn. 188) Bartlow was served
by curates, paid for in the 1540s by Lady Butler,
the patron. (fn. 189) Religious conservatism may have
prompted a parishioner who tried to save a pax in
1552, (fn. 190) and the holy-water stoup remained intact in
1562. (fn. 191) Jon Baker, rector 1599–1639, was presented
in 1599 for not holding services on many holy days
or on certain weekdays. (fn. 192) His son Jon, rector from
1643, was ejected from the living in April 1644;
he was a staunch Royalist and had refused the
Covenant, had threatened parishioners who attended
services elsewhere, and was accused of drinking,
swearing, and scandalous conduct. (fn. 193) Richard Wells
(or Weller), 1646–51, was described in 1650 as 'a
very able man'; (fn. 194) Adiel Baynard, 1651–67, also held
livings in Essex and Wiltshire from 1662. (fn. 195) William
Kilborne, rector 1704–11, and master of Saffron
Walden school, resigned to be succeeded by his pupil
Edmund Mapletoft, rector 1711–49. From Mapletoft the living was inherited by his son Edmund,
rector 1750–72, and grandson Edmund, rector
1775–82. (fn. 196) The first Edmund was resident in 1728,
also employing a curate, as did his absentee successor in 1775. (fn. 197) During his long incumbency 1782–
1828, Joseph Hall lived almost continuously at
Bartlow; in 1806 he was involved in a dispute with
the tenant of the Hall. He and John Bullen both
held two Sunday services and thrice yearly communions. (fn. 198) On Census Sunday in 1851 58 people
attended the morning service and 86 the afternoon
one. (fn. 199) By 1877 there were also 12 communions a
year, and 3 or 4 a month in 1897. Most inhabitants
of the village, 150 in 1877, were church-goers. (fn. 200)
Bartlow was held in plurality with Shudy Camps
1939–45, and with Horseheath 1946–72 when incumbents lived at Horseheath. (fn. 201) The rector from 1972
was instituted to Bartlow and Linton in plurality
under a pastoral scheme, and lived at Linton. (fn. 202)
Bartlow hamlet in Ashdon long retained its connexion with Bartlow church. Robert Walton, lord
of Waltons manor in Ashdon, gave cloth and a book
to the church in the 14th century, (fn. 203) and six inhabitants of the hamlet were ordered in 1599 to receive
communion at Bartlow, though they might attend
Ashdon church at other times and participate in
civil parish affairs there. (fn. 204) Inhabitants of the hamlet
were commonly baptized, married, and buried at
Bartlow: sons of the earl and countess of Lincoln,
living at Waltons, were baptized at Bartlow in 1785
and 1786. (fn. 205) Inhabitants of the hamlet also paid
church-rates to Bartlow in the 19th century. The
portion of Bartlow parish lying in Essex, in the
archdeaconry of Ely, was transferred in 1914 from
the diocese of Chelmsford to that of Ely. (fn. 206) Bartlow
also served people living at Westoe, in Castle Camps
parish, who were far from their own church.
The church of ST. MARY, so called by 1521, (fn. 207)
is of field stones and rubble with dressings of freestone, and has a chancel, nave with north porch, and
circular west tower, one of the two such towers in
Cambridgeshire. The tower is apparently all that
survives of the late-11th- or early-12th-century
church, the west window being inserted in the earlier
14th century at about the same date that the whole
of the nave and chancel were rebuilt. Alterations to
the structure in the 15th century included a new
east window, the north and south doorways and
north porch, and the buttresses on the south wall.
Fragments of glass and wall-paintings survive from
the 15th century, including depictions of a St. Christopher, painted over one of St. Michael weighing
souls, and on the north wall St. George's dragon. (fn. 208)
The rood-loft, mentioned as new in 1506, (fn. 209) was
backed by a board filling the upper part of the chancel arch. Apart from a new communion table and
rails installed in 1756, (fn. 210) and occasional repairs,
little work was carried out on the church in the 17th
and 18th centuries. There was a general restoration
under the direction of R. R. Rowe in 1879, when
most of the window tracery was renewed, (fn. 211) and
there were extensive repairs to the roof in 1897. (fn. 212)
The three bells, which survived in 1974, were
made in London c. 1460, perhaps by William Chamberlayne. (fn. 213) The church had one chalice c. 1278, (fn. 214)
perhaps the same silver chalice and paten as in 1552. (fn. 215)
A silver cup and paten belonged to Bartlow in 1837, (fn. 216)
and with two more patens and two flagons given in
the 19th and 20th centuries, were still there c. 1960. (fn. 217)
The parish registers begin in 1573 and are virtually
complete. (fn. 218)
Nonconformity.
Joan Willowes, a widow,
was frequently presented as a recusant between 1579
and 1599, although there was some doubt whether
she lived in Bartlow or in Essex. (fn. 219) Another Bartlow
woman was presented with her in 1599. (fn. 220) Though
there were five families of Independents in 1728, (fn. 221)
they may have lived in the hamlet, and in 1783 there
was only one nonconformist family, who attended
the meeting-house at Linton. (fn. 222) There were no dissenters in Bartlow village in 1807, (fn. 223) and only one
family in 1825; (fn. 224) none were known in 1836 or 1897. (fn. 225)
Education.
There was a small school at Bartlow for poor children by 1807, (fn. 226) though the only
establishment besides the Sunday school in 1825
was for teaching girls needlework, both schools
being supported by the rector. (fn. 227) Children from Bartlow village attended schools in Bartlow End hamlet
in 1833. (fn. 228) The rector supported a day-school in the
village in 1836, apparently held in the rectory which
he had recently extended, (fn. 229) and it had 17 pupils in
1846. (fn. 230) From 1872 the parish guaranteed £70 a year
towards the school. (fn. 231) A National school was built at
Bartlow in 1875, north of the Linton-Camps road; (fn. 232)
it was attended by 27 boys and 17 girls in 1877, and
reached its highest average attendance of 47 in
1889. (fn. 233) Attendance declined slowly thereafter, to
40 in 1896, 27 in 1906, and 15 in 1922. (fn. 234) The senior
pupils were transferred to Linton village college in
1937, and when in 1939 the number of children
attending Bartlow school fell to 9 it was closed, the
junior pupils being transferred to schools in Linton. (fn. 235)
Charity for the Poor.
Thomas Carter
D.D., rector of Debden (Essex), by will proved 1697
gave a rent-charge of £4 on the tithes of Debden for
woollen cloth for four poor people, three from Debden and one from Bartlow, after 10s. had been
deducted for an annual sermon. (fn. 236) The cloth was
given regularly from 1702. By 1775 it was customary
to give it, sometimes in the form of a coat, to a member of the church congregation who was impoverished but not receiving parish relief, (fn. 237) a qualification
which sometimes made a recipient hard to find. Two
rectors of Bartlow, Joseph Hall 1782–1828, and John
Bullen 1828–63, gave an extra coat of their own gift
with Carter's charity. (fn. 238) The rector of Debden from
the 1860s to the 1890s objected to paying £4 each
year from his income and occasionally refused, but
the trustees' claim was upheld by the Charity Commissioners. By a Scheme of 1891 Bartlow received
a quarter of the income after the payment of 10s.
to the rector of Debden for a sermon. The rentcharge was redeemed by the Church Commissioners
in 1956 for £160 stock; the charity was regulated
by a scheme in 1970, and 17s. 6d. a year was paid to
the rector of Bartlow to be spent on a coat.