Barkway, Hertfordshire

Map

The overlays that highlight 17th century London features are approximate and derived from Wenceslaus Hollar’s maps:

Open location in Google Maps: 52.000672, 0.016124

9 Annotations

First Reading

Pedro.  •  Link

Barkway.

Around 17 miles to Cambridge, 14 miles from Ware and 38 miles from London.

Pedro.  •  Link

Barkway.

Vincente, o meu amigo, I think Barkway is on the B1368, and this leaves the Old North Road at Buntingford as an alternative route to Cambridge, going next through Puckeridge as Sam did on the 24 Feb, and to Fowlmere as you say.
Shame this site has a little spoiler for '63.

http://www.biffvernon.freeserve.c…

vicente  •  Link

I was barking off the wrong number, when I trod that road, it was called Hay street or the Barley way, not some government number that I could never remember. In my day it was go to the church, turn at the forge,past old harries, the one with the-----.
road use to be: Ware, Wades Mill, Colliers End ,Puckeridge, Hay street Hare street; else Puckeridge to Buntingford . Never go to Nasty, miss Braughing, dont get caught in Standon, Anstey [pansey] {[near a WWII Air field, full of lightnings] miss Shaft en hoe, have fun in Barley, miss Kingstown[Royston] and end up in Foulmere .Royston was surrounded by Air bases:

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

L&M Companion has nothing on Barkway.

The local Historical Society says (I've copied only 17th century stuff):

Barkway is a village and civil parish in North Hertfordshire, England. Situated 4.5 miles south east of the town of Royston, the village was once a major stopping point on the coaching route from London to Cambridge.

In the area are several ancient woods. They are characterised by having plants such as bluebells, dog mercury, and wild garlic. In medieval times woodland was a valuable asset. It contained timber for building, and small wood for poles, hurdles, and most importantly for domestic fuel. The first two were obtained from coppicing small trees such as hazel. They would be cut to ground level, and then allowed to regrow providing long straight lengths. So-called coppice stools of hazel in woods such as Rokey Wood are common.

Because of their importance, woods were surrounded by ditches and hedge banks on the outside to deter deer and other animals. There are numerous examples of remaining ancient ditches at woodland edges. Large areas of the country were given over to strip farming. This form of cultivation was carried on in most places until enclosure. This commenced in Barkway in 1811.
Post enclosure field boundaries can be seen now as straight, and hedged by mostly hawthorn. However old field boundaries following their original courses can still be found.
Fields ploughed in medieval times and earlier would have been by teams of oxen, and later horses. Traditionally ploughing proceeded to follow a reverse capital “S” shape. This was to overcome the difficulty of turning the teams at the end of the row. So the plough would start to follow a curve when approaching the headland so that a smooth progression could be followed before going on. These “S” shaped lengths were normally a furlong (200 yards) and known as selions.
The western edge of Rokey Wood provides a perfect example of the length and shape of a selion furlong. Unploughed paths for access were left at random amongst the strips known as baulks.
That name has survived for the land beyond the village hall.
As a result of the ploughing, headlands tended to develop as substantial banks of earth.
Springs in both Rokey Wood and nearby Sallow Wood rise from the underlying chalk to eventually flow down to form the river Quin.
English chalk streams are a rare and vital part of the ecosystem.

Hertfordshire as a county is relatively rich in river systems, so that water mills are common. But Barkway was one of the places in the higher north of the county which employed wind power. There is record of a windmill in existence in the 13th century, but its whereabouts is not known.
The 1587 muster rolls record the presence of two millers in Barkway.
There would appear to have been a windmill in Newsells manor in the late 1600s.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 2

A hoard of Roman articles were found by a worker digging in a quarry in 1743 about 300 metres to the northeast of Periwinkle Hill.
The items clearly originated in a temple or shrine; of modest size, they combine both votive and ceremonial objects. The hoard consists of 7 votive silver plaques together with the handle from a priest's rattle and a fine figurine. The dedication is to Mars. The contents of the hoard appear to have been restricted to valued components of a larger collection.
The hoard was passed to the then owner of the quarry, Lord Selsey of Newsells, who later presented it to the British Museum.
This is the only discovery of Roman remains in the area.

Newsells was recorded in the Domesday Book, and has been a major manor in Barkway since then. The estate belonged to the Scales family in medieval times, but since then had not been in the ownership of a particular family for any length of time.

Henry Prannell was a wealthy London vintner and became an Alderman of the City. He amassed a fortune as the 16th-century historian, Stowe, recorded that he made an annual distribution of £50 to the London Hospitals.
As one of the new class of wealthy Elizabethan merchants he wanted a country seat. He probably thought Newsells Manor was a fashionable place, with the Royal Palace at Hatfield and Queen Elizabeth paying frequent visits to local worthies.
He bought the Newsells Estate in 1579, and he and his family moved into Rushingwells.
He died in 1588, and in his will left 2/3 of his estate to his wife, and 1/3 to his son, Henry.
In 1591 young Henry Prannell married the 13-year-old Frances Howard. Both her grandfathers were Dukes, and it was a mystery why she was married off to a mere vintner's son (perhaps attracted by the fortune amassed by Henry senior).
Young Henry died in 1599, in his 30's, and a memorial plaque in the chancel floor of Barkway church gives much detail about her, and little about him.
Frances took possession of Newsells and the other local manors which Henry had purchased.
Frances Howard Prennell soon married the Earl of Hertford, who died in 1621 aged 81.
Contemporaneous reports say she was being courted by the Duke of Lennox before Hertford’s death.
A week later, Frances Howard Prannell, Countess of Hartford secretly married the Duke of Lennox, and henceforth maintained a lifestyle of great pomp.
In 1623 they were made Duke and Duchess of Richmond as well as Lennox.
The Duke died in 1624, and Frances continued a widow until her death in 1639.
She is interred beside the Duke in a monument erected for herself and her husband under her direction and at her expense in Westminster Abbey.
Frances was childless, and Newsells was sold following her death.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

CONCLUSION

In the early Georgian period the Jennings family contributed to a significant enhancement with grand designs. George Jennings inherited the Newsells estate from his father Sir John Jennings in 1743.

The Saltonstall family had an important association with Barkway in the 1600s. Richard Saltonstall came from landed estates in Yorkshire and was a key figure in London during Queen Elizabeth’s reign. He was master of the Skinners Guild, was created Lord Mayor in 1597, and was knighted.
His wife Susannah acquired the ownership of Barkway Rectory Manor in 1598, which she passed on to her son Peter.
Peter moved into Manor Farm, and there started an association with the village for the next 50 years.
The rectory manor existed in its own right as a separate manor within the village, having besides Manor Farm, the church, vicarage, tenants, and a substantial land holding. Sir Peter therefore became the lord of the manor, with the responsibilities that went with the role.
His wife Christian exercised joint roles with him as lord.
He held regular manor courts although they may not have personally presided over them.
He was created an equerry to King James I and knighted in 1605.
Sir Peter and Christian had a large family, the children’s names appearing in the parish birth registers, and a few recorded on memorials in the church following their deaths.
Sir Peter’s mother Susannah died in 1612, and in her will stipulated that the poor of Barkway should benefit from a legacy.
Sir Peter attempted to organise his succession and inheritance following the death of his wife in 1646. His direct heir was his son James, followed by his daughter Ann.
Unfortunately, James and Ann both died in 1649.
Sir Peter died in 1651 aged 74, having outlived all his family.
The estate was inherited by Ann’s husband, Sir Edward Chester, the owner of Royston Priory and the Cokenach estate.

Pictures and more at
https://www.barkwayhistory.com/ho…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Barkway lies on the eastern extension of the chalky Chiltern Hills. In prehistoric times it was the site of a major crossroads, the east-west trading route taking advantage of the dry highlands of the scarp and the north-south track linking London with Cambridge.

There is evidence of man’s existence close to the cross roads and slightly to the east, on the banks of the river Quin, where deposits of flint flakes and half finished tools suggest a sophisticated trading station.
To the west of the London-Cambridge road lies Periwinkle Hill. This now almost lost mound was probably the base of a strong point and lookout tower giving views across the plains of Cambridge as far as the settlement of Ely.

The conquest of Britain by the Romans left its mark on the surrounding landscape.
Barkway has produced one small cache of Roman silver found at the edge of nearby Rookey Wood, during the 18th century.

The Norman Invasion brought a new culture and light to England.
The Chiltern Edge was probably used by William the Conqueror as a springboard for his troops as they suppressed Hereward and his companions uprising in the Fenlands of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.

William, a bureaucrat and head of the Norman civil service, decreed that he should know the full extent of the wealth of the land and have an exact record of Crown property.
In 1086 he commissioned the Domesday Survey. Barkway was examined and, for the first time, appeared in an official document. Apart from farming commitments, the village supported a “holy man”. He was probably one of the few villagers capable of reading and writing, so was elevated to a position of authority.
His church was probably no more than a simple wooden structure – sufficient to support him and his farm animals - and the community only partially supported him.

Barkway flourished. It was granted a market so became an important trading point and a place for social gathering.
Despite being ravaged by fires in the 15th and 18th centuries, it became one of the major stopping points on the coaching route from London to the North East.
The inhabitants became wealthy and complacent, unconcerned about the decline of the coach trade in the mid 1800’s.
A railway was proposed, but failed to materialise; Barkway became a backwater.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

CONCLUSION:

By the turn of the 20th century, Barkway was away from the main roads and therefore away from the attention of the County authorities.
Slipping further into decline, the population slumped as people sought their fortunes in Royston and sometimes in London.
WWII brought the building of the airfield at nearby Nuthampstead, but when peace came, the decline returned.
Today, all of Barkway’s 15 shops have gone.
Its 20 or so pubs and beer houses have reduced to just one.

History made Barkway the beautiful village it has become. Away from the major roads, and away from the meddling bureaucrats, it remains mainly unspoilt – a peaceful tranquil village, but not a backwater.

Extracted from an original work (C) Tom Doig and adapted with his permission
https://barkwayparishcouncil.gov.…

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1661

  • Aug