Parishes: Burrough Green

BURROUGH GREEN

The parish of Burrough Green, which covers 2,272 a., lies 5½ miles south of Newmarket. (fn. 1) It stretches 6 miles from north-west of the main London-Newmarket road to the Suffolk border in the south-east. There it is over 1 mile wide, but narrows to less than ½ mile in the north-west where Westley Waterless has been cut out of it. From Sipsey Bridge eastward to Plunder wood the southeast boundary follows that of the county. Parts of the north-east and south-west boundaries follow watercourses near the south-east end of the parish, and the boundary with Westley follows the road from Westley village to the main road, but elsewhere the boundaries are far less regular, sometimes not even coinciding with field boundaries, and some lands were traditionally 'interbait' with Westley. About 50 a. near Underwood Hall, in the northwestern half of the parish, became part of Burrough Green under the Dullingham inclosure award in 1810. (fn. 2) The village lies in the south-eastern half of the parish along the road from Great Bradley to Dullingham and Newmarket, and roads from Brinkley and Carlton Grange cross the parish north-west of the village. The Cambridge-Newmarket railway crosses the north-western end of the parish; the nearest stations are at Six Mile Bottom and Dullingham.

The parish is well wooded, especially in the southeast; Park wood and Out wood are recorded from the early 15th century, (fn. 3) and Out wood was scheduled as of special scientific interest in 1951. (fn. 4) The land rises from 150 ft. on the north-west to 300 ft. on Cambridge Hill, and then falls a little before rising again to a plateau at 375 ft. on which the village stands. It falls again to 270 ft. in the south-east. The parish lies on the chalk, covered on the higher ground by boulder clay. The chalkpit near Underwood Hall, designated as of scientific interest, provides a section through the chalk rich in fossils. (fn. 5) The soil on the chalk is a brown or red loamy sand, and from it Redfield or Radfield in Burrough Green took the name which it gave to the hundred. (fn. 6)

There are two moated sites, one of which may be of Saxon origin, and from which Burgh, as it was originally called, took its name. (fn. 7) The name Burrough Green first occurs in the 16th century. (fn. 8) The village is grouped around a triangular green of c. 5 a., with the manor-house, church, and rectory on the western side, and the early-18th-century school at the northern corner. Along the north-eastern side runs the main street, with most of the older houses looking across it to the green. A number of thatched and plastered cottages survived in 1975, by when small groups of new houses and an old peoples' unit had been built on the south-western edge of the green, near the church. There was also some new building at the south-western end of the main street. In 1887 a reading room, still standing in 1975, was built next to the school by Mrs. Porcher as a memorial to her husband Charles. (fn. 9) North-west of the village lies Burrough End which, although just within Burrough parish, forms a continuation of the main street of Westley Waterless. At one time there was a hamlet at Padloe or Paddle Hole End, which lay on the track to Bushey Grove, east-south-east of the village. Only one cottage remained in 1801, and it disappeared in the course of the century. (fn. 10)

Nineteen people were enumerated in Burrough Green in 1086. (fn. 11) In 1327 there were 29 taxpayers in Burrough and Westley, and in 1377 there were 141 adults in the two parishes. (fn. 12) By the mid 16th century there were 34 households in Burrough, (fn. 13) and 54 houses a century later. (fn. 14) In 1728 there were c. 200 inhabitants. (fn. 15) By 1801 the number had risen to 276, though there were only c. 30 houses. The population rose steadily, to 529 in 1851, but then fell to 423 in 1901 and 268 in 1971. (fn. 16)

There were two inns in 1779, the White Hart and the Black Bull, which stood at each end of the north-eastern side of the green in 1837. The White Hart had a small farm attached to it, (fn. 17) and had ceased to be an inn by 1889. The timber-framed and plastered 17th-century house still stood at the eastern corner of the green in 1975, (fn. 18) when the Bull was the only inn in the parish.

Manors and Other Estates.

In the will of Lustwine, made between 1017 and 1049, Burrough Green was left to Ely abbey, but in his son Thurstan's will (1043 × 1045) it was left to Ulfketel. (fn. 19) In 1066 it belonged to Eddeva and in 1086 was held by Count Alan. (fn. 20) The manor of BURGH or BURROUGH with most of Count Alan's lands descended with the honor of Richmond, and c. 1166 Thomas de Burgh (d. 1199) held 4 fees of that honor. (fn. 21) In the early 13th century one of the fees was identified as Burrough. It descended in the de Burgh family for 200 years. (fn. 22) Thomas was succeeded by his sons Thomas (d. 1234) and Philip (d. 1235). (fn. 23) In 1260 Burrough was held by Philip's son Sir Thomas de Burgh, who died in 1284. His son Philip died a year later, the manor passing to Philip's son Thomas, then aged 7. Thomas was knight of the shire for Cambridgeshire in 1311, and was succeeded in 1322 by his son John. (fn. 24) Shortly before his death in 1329 John entered a religious house, and made the manor over to his brother Thomas. (fn. 25) Thomas died in 1334 leaving a son John, aged 4, and the Crown granted the custody of the manor to John de Verdon. (fn. 26) John de Burgh died in 1393 and was succeeded by his son Thomas. On Thomas's death in 1411 his estates were divided between his three half-sisters, the Cambridgeshire lands going to Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Ingoldisthorpe, who held Burrough in 1412. (fn. 27)

In 1420 Sir John was succeeded by his son Thomas Ingoldisthorpe who was still a minor when he died in 1422 leaving a son Edmund, aged one. (fn. 28) The wardship of Edmund was granted to John, Lord Tiptoft, who married Edmund to his daughter Joan. (fn. 29) Edmund died in 1456 leaving a daughter Isabel (d. 1476), who married John Neville, marquess of Montagu. On Joan's death in 1494 the Ingoldisthorpe lands were divided between Isabel's five daughters. Burrough Green went to Elizabeth, wife of Thomas, Lord Scrope of Masham, and after her death to Lucy Brown, her niece. (fn. 30) Lucy married Sir John Cutt of Childerley, who held Burrough at his death in 1521. Their son, also John, died in 1528, and his son, a third John, sold Burrough Green to Sir Anthony Cage in 1574. (fn. 31)

Cage was succeeded in 1583 by his son Anthony (d. 1603) whose son John was knighted and served as sheriff of Cambridgeshire in 1609. Sir John died in 1628. His son Sir Anthony (fn. 32) fell into great debt during the Civil Wars, and at his death in 1667 his estates were heavily mortgaged. He devised Burrough Green manor not to his sons John and William but to his daughter Anne and her husband Henry Slingsby, (fn. 33) and in 1670 Burrough Green was the Slingsbys' seat. (fn. 34) Slingsby later came under suspicion for his conduct as Master of the Mint and at his death in 1690 was much in debt. He left Burrough Green to his wife for her life with reversion to his younger son Anthony. (fn. 35) In 1696 Anthony Slingsby mortgaged the estate to Edward Russell, later earl of Orford, who eventually bought the manor, dying without issue in 1727. Burrough Green was bought by Charles Seymour, duke of Somerset, and passed to Heneage Finch, earl of Aylesford (d. 1777), through his marriage with the duke's daughter Charlotte. (fn. 36) It passed to the Finches' son Heneage, earl of Aylesford, who before he died in 1812 had begun the sale of Burrough Green to Thomas and Henry Redhead, and Henry was lord of the manor in 1815. (fn. 37) In 1837 Thomas Redhead held c. 800 a. in Burrough Green. (fn. 38) He died in 1839 and the manor passed to Charles Porcher of Cliffe (Dors.), who had married Thomas's daughter Elinor in 1828. (fn. 39) In 1864 she was lady of the manor, which by 1869 had passed to E. L. Kindersley, also of Cliffe. Kindersley assumed the additional name of Porcher in 1901, and died in 1907, to be followed by his son Capt. C. P. W. Kindersley (later Kindersley-Porcher), (fn. 40) who c. 1909 sold Burrough Green to S. A. Taylor of Newmarket. The estate was then split up, the manorial rights passing to Mrs. Gertrude Taylor, who held them in 1920 and 1939. (fn. 41) In 1913 the Hall was advertised for sale by R. J. Lacey, whose father had leased it for many years previously. (fn. 42) By 1925 it belonged to G. R. C. Foster (d. 1936) and in 1938 was bought by R. S. Way. (fn. 43) In 1958 it was sold to Sir Alan Noble, M.P., with a 37-acre stud farm, and in 1975 was owned by Miss P. K. Wolf. (fn. 44)

The earliest manor-house probably stood on the Saxon moated site in Park wood; there was a deer park in the parish in 1086. In 1330 Thomas de Burgh was licensed to impark land there. (fn. 45) Burrough Green Hall, built c. 1575, but possibly incorporating part of an earlier timber-framed house, stands west of the green, next to the church. It was originally much larger, having 26 hearths in 1665, and probably extended across the full width of the surviving walled forecourt. (fn. 46) The main front of brick with pedimented and pilastered surrounds to the windows has a central porch and doorway which is axial to the main gateway into the forecourt and to a garden layout now largely destroyed which included a large moated enclosure some distance north-west of the house. By 1670 the house was said to be large but ruinous and in an inconvenient position. (fn. 47) It was subsequently reduced in size and in the 19th century it was remodelled as a farmhouse.

In the early 13th century Philip of Barnwell gave to Warden abbey (Beds.) land in Burrough held of Nichole and Robert de Sahoun and Hugh of Croydon. (fn. 48) In 1291 the abbey held RAVENSHOLT and other lands there later known as BURGHDEN GRANGE. There was a grange attached to each estate. About 1368 the abbey's tithe-free land in Burrough comprised 60 a. attached to Burghden Grange, 100 a. attached to Ravensholt, and woodland belonging to both. (fn. 49) In 1387 both estates were given in exchange for land in Bedfordshire to William Bateman and Nicholas Westerdale, who transferred Ravensholt to John Atwood and Burghden to Robert Knatchbull and John Kent. (fn. 50)

In 1392, however, Barnwell priory was licensed to acquire 240 a. in Burrough called Ravensholt from Bateman and Westerdale. (fn. 51) By 1534 the priory held pasture called Ravensholt which in 1541 was granted to Edward North, later Lord North. (fn. 52) Sir George Downing (d. 1684) bought from Sir Dudley North 132 a. called Ravensholt, which descended in the Downing family and formed part of the original endowment of Downing College. In the 19th century Ravensholt covered c. 173 a. Also known as Piper's farm, it was sold by the college in 1922 to a Mr. Vye, (fn. 53) and by 1942 formed part of the Great Thurlow Hall estate of C. F. Ryder, which was then sold to Mr. R. A. Vestey. (fn. 54)

Burghden Grange seems to have remained in lay hands after 1387. About 1501 William and Elizabeth Taylard sold it to Nicholas Hughson and others. (fn. 55) In 1567 it was held by Dorothy and Thomasin Rudston, and in the early 17th century by Sir John Cage, lord of the manor. (fn. 56) The name does not occur thereafter; the land presumably descended with the manor. The site of the grange has not been traced.

In 1231 William le Breton, a judge, was granted c. 8 a. in Burrough by Alice de Burgh. At his death in 1261 he held 120 a. there of the manor and 20 a. of Randal de Burgh. (fn. 57) William was succeeded by his son John who acquired further lands in the parish and in 1307 granted them to Edmund le Breton. (fn. 58) In 1353 Thomas le Breton held the land in Burrough. (fn. 59) In 1389 a tenement in Burrough called BRETTONS was held by Robert, a clerk, and in 1392 was granted to William Bateman to be held for rent and suit of court to the honor of Richmond. (fn. 60) In 1445 John Bateman, rector of Burrough, was licensed to found a chantry there, which Sir John Scalers and others thereupon endowed with land. (fn. 61) In the later 16th century the chantry land was known as Brettons manor or BATEMANS CHANTRY. In 1548 it was granted to Gilbert Claydon of Brinkley and Robert Bank, an Ipswich merchant, and in 1557 Claydon was licensed to sell it to Leonard Barrett. (fn. 62) Barrett sold the estate in 1562 to Thomas Holmes who in 1582 sold it to Anthony Cage. (fn. 63) It then descended with the manor which in the 17th century was known as Burrough cum Brettons.

The capital messuage of Brettons stood on the moated site known as the Chantry, close to the Brinkley boundary. The earthwork probably dates from the 14th century, but the house within seems to have been rebuilt in the 15th or 16th century. (fn. 64) There was apparently a chapel in the house, which was occupied by the chantry priest, and it had a bell to summon to mass. (fn. 65) It was presumably the mansion house of Leonard Barrett mentioned in 1557. The building seems to have disappeared by the early 17th century. (fn. 66)

In 1280 the prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem held 1 hide in Burrough of the honor of Richmond. (fn. 67) In 1540 Sir Richard Long was granted the reversion of land of the Hospitallers' preceptory of Shingay, including that in Burrough. (fn. 68) Later record of the land has not been found.

In the mid 15th century God's House in Cambridge acquired GOD'S HOUSE CLOSE in Burrough Green. In 1546 its successor Christ's College held a messuage there with 5½ a. of pasture and arable, which appears to have been sold for £28 in 1560. (fn. 69)

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge, held land in Burrough Green in 1586. (fn. 70) In 1816 St. Catharine's College exchanged land in the parish with the earl of Aylesford for 25 a. in Brinkley. (fn. 71)

In 1505 William Atkinson, fellow of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, gave to the college land in Burrough Green which in 1563 amounted to c. 25 a. From 1741 to 1827 it was leased to the trustees of Burrough Green school. (fn. 72) In 1793 the college agreed to an exchange of land with the earl of Aylesford, and in 1925 sold c. 30 a. of land and a house. (fn. 73)

In 1515 James Clerk, rector of Burrough Green, gave a pightle and croft to Peterhouse, and in 1521 the college bought further land there. (fn. 74) In 1793 it exchanged c. 17 a. in the open fields for 11½ a. in the south-east corner of the parish. (fn. 75) Throughout the 19th century the college held between 20 a. and 30 a. in Burrough Green, which it sold in 1942. (fn. 76)

Economic History.

Three of the 5 hides in Burrough in 1086 were in demesne, where there were 2 servi and 4 plough-teams. There was meadow for 4 oxen, and a park for hunting. The 7 villani and 10 bordars had 4 or 4½ plough-teams on the other 2 hides. Woodland provided pannage for the 41 pigs. The manor had been worth £10 T.R.E. and having fallen to £8 was worth £9 in 1086. (fn. 77) In 1334 there were 200 a. of demesne arable which lay in common from August to February; half was sown each year, 60 a. in winter and 40 a. in spring. The park covered 40 a. In 1422 there were still 200 a. of demesne arable, 100 a. of pasture, and 8 a. of meadow. The 80 a. of wood made no profit but there were 30 a. of underwood of which 5 a. could be sold each year. In 1334 only 20 works were owed between Lammas and Michaelmas. By 1422 there were at least 7 free tenants paying 33s. a year in all. The customary tenants and 10 cottars paid 40s. a year and all tenants gave 7 capons at Christmas. (fn. 78) Until inclosure the arable lay in up to seven open fields, divided into unequal furlongs. The largest was Outfield in the north-west part of the parish, followed by Radfield east of the village and Grove and Chalkpit fields north-west of the village. Churling, Underwood, and Stonehurst fields were much smaller. (fn. 79) In the 18th century a three-course rotation was followed. (fn. 80) Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries barley was the chief corn crop. In the mid 17th century wheat, rye, oats, peas, and a mixture of oats, peas, and beans were also grown. (fn. 81) In the late 14th century some heath was brought into cultivation, probably forming Outfield. (fn. 82) In the later 18th century more heath, previously used as grazing for sheep, was pared and burned, and then cultivated. (fn. 83) In the 17th century Sir John Cage claimed he had suffered great loss by some of his heath being taken into Hare Park at Newmarket by the king; he had to hire pasture 20 miles away, and could keep only two instead of his previous three flocks. (fn. 84) Up to the early 19th century every commoner could pasture two cows or a horse on various lands after harvest, and on the Hall meadow at Lammas. Sheep could graze Grove field at Michaelmas, Radfield at All Saints, and the glebe every third year. (fn. 85) Most of the woodland remained in the lord's hands, but in 1608 Thomas Atkinson and others owned timber in the great park and elsewhere. (fn. 86)

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries a number of copyholds were surrendered to the lord. By the late 19th century little copyhold land survived, but in 1910 the village green was sold subject to the rights of copyholders. (fn. 87) By 1793 the earl of Aylesford held most of the land in the parish, and entered into exchanges with Pembroke College, Peterhouse, the trustees of Burrough Green school and town lands, and the rectors of Burrough and Westley, to facilitate inclosure and compensate them for their surrender of common rights. No copy of any inclosure agreement survives, but in 1815 the earl's son petitioned parliament for an Act to legalize the exchanges. Although the bill was never passed the exchanges seem to have taken place. (fn. 88) In 1812, however, there was still c. 1,000 a. of open-field land. (fn. 89) There is no record of further inclosure, but no commonable land remained by 1837. In that year the largest estate belonged to Thomas Redhead who held c. 800 a. including the Hall farm, and Wick, White Hart, and Owls Hall (later Fox Hall) farms. The other large landowner was James Barker, rector of Westley, who owned Westley Lodge and Underwood Hall farms. Apart from Downing College's Ravensholt farm (170 a.) and the 62 a. of glebe, no other holding exceeded 30 a. (fn. 90) Some of Barker's land later passed to Gen. John Hall and by 1908 to A. C. Hall. As part of his Six Mile Bottom estate it was sold in 1912 to Sir Ernest Cassel, who in 1917 bought Upper Hare Park, (fn. 91) which from the 17th century had included c. 50 a. in Burrough Green. (fn. 92) The land later passed to Cassel's granddaughter, (fn. 93) Ruth Mary Cunningham-Reid (later Lady Delamere), who in 1975 still held the Six Mile Bottom estate. The farms which formed Redhead's estate were split up in the early 20th century. (fn. 94) Fox Hall and Ravens Hall seem to have been farmed together by 1942 when the buildings of the former were derelict. They had been demolished by 1952. (fn. 95)

In the mid 19th century the chief crops were wheat, barley, and roots. (fn. 96) In 1837 there were 1,676 a. of arable, 240 a. of grass, and 172 a. of woodland. By 1905 the figures were 1, 319 a., 301 a., and 158 a. respectively. (fn. 97) In 1910 the Hall farm was run by the Lacey family as a stud: under G. R. C. Foster it was known as the Bower stud of shire horses. (fn. 98) In 1975 it was again a stud farm. By 1922 there was a marketgarden in the parish, and after 1929 the rectory farm was devoted to dairying. In 1959 a large fruit farm was opened north-west of the village. (fn. 99) The woodland in the south-east part of the parish in 1975 was almost co-extensive with that of 1837. Only the 8 a. of Atkins grove had disappeared. (fn. 100) In 1910 the woodland contained oak, ash, elm, and sweet chestnut. (fn. 101) Some land in the north-west part of the parish remained as heath until the 19th century. (fn. 102)

In 1831 about two-thirds of the families in the parish were supported by agriculture. (fn. 103) There was agricultural unrest in the 1870s when a number of farm-workers joined an agricultural strike. A Mr. Jary who farmed Underwood Hall dismissed his employees who had taken part, and as a result W. H. Hall refused to renew his lease. The sale of stock before Jary's departure was used to demonstrate conservative feeling in the area. (fn. 104)

There was a forge in Burrough Green in the 17th century. (fn. 105) By the mid 19th century there were two, one in Burrough Green village and one at Burrough End. In 1864 there were also a carpenter, wheelwright, and tailor. (fn. 106)

There was a mill in Burrough in 1308. (fn. 107) The windmill there in 1334 was in bad repair and worth nothing in 1422. In the same year there was said to be a water-mill, but it was not recorded later. (fn. 108) A mill was mentioned in 1591 (fn. 109) and throughout the 17th century. (fn. 110) In the late 19th century there were two windmills, one in the angle between the Brinkley and Westley roads, and one on Bungalow Hill east of the London-Newmarket road. (fn. 111) The latter, a post mill bearing the date 1766, was moved to a near-by position c. 1846 when the railway was built. It has been out of use since 1923, but was still standing in 1975. (fn. 112)

In 1841 a fair was held in Burrough Green for two days in June. In 1961 an old Whit-Monday fair was said to have been revived several years before. (fn. 113)

Local Government.

As Burrough Green was held of the honor of Richmond the manor owed suit at the tourns of that honor which in the 14th century were sometimes held at Burrough. Burrough was represented at the tourn by three customary tenants and three free tenants. An ale-taster and brewster were answerable to the court, which also concerned itself with the watercourses in the parish. (fn. 114) In 1299 the abbot of Warden claimed view of frankpledge over his men in Burrough. (fn. 115) A manor court for Burrough was held in 1334. (fn. 116) Court records survive for 1673–81, 1719–92, and 1795–1920. By the 17th century the courts were already concerned almost solely with tenurial matters. The appointment of one or two pinders is noted throughout the 18th century, and in 1788 two tenants were presented for taking cattle which were being impounded by the pinder. Courts were held once a year in the 17th century, but more irregularly after 1730. (fn. 117)

The amount spent on poor-relief rose from £78 in 1776 to £180 in 1803 and then, more sharply than the average, to £470 in 1813. It later fluctuated between £300 and £400 for the next 20 years, except for low points in 1816 and 1828. In 1803 8 adults and 16 children received permanent outside relief. In 1813 40 were relieved permanently, but by 1815 the number had fallen to 23. (fn. 118) In 1835 the parish joined the Newmarket poor-law union (fn. 119) and remained part of the Newmarket R.D. until 1974, being then included in East Cambridgeshire.

Church.

There was a church in Burrough Green in 1217. (fn. 120) The advowson of the rectory descended with the manor until the early 20th century. (fn. 121) By 1917 it belonged to James Binney and later passed to C. Binney whose brother Mr. H. Binney held it in 1975. (fn. 122) In 1570 two presentations were granted to Anthony and Richard Cutt successively, and in 1599 the second was granted to Francis Garthside, the rector. (fn. 123)

The rectory was valued at 10 marks in 1254, 20 marks in 1276, and 16 marks in 1291. (fn. 124) In 1534 it was worth £18 10s. and by 1650 £100. (fn. 125) By 1728 it had risen to £120, and by 1835 the gross income was £553, the second highest in the rural deanery. By 1877 it had risen to £675. (fn. 126) In 1615 there were 85 a. of glebe. The amount was given as 106 a. in 1639, but was again 85 a. in 1787. (fn. 127) In 1789 62 a. were exchanged for 30 a. of inclosed land, and in 1837 there were 73 a. of glebe. The rector was also entitled to all great and small tithes in Burrough Green and to some tithes in Stetchworth and Dullingham. (fn. 128) The rectory house, south-west of the church, was being rebuilt in 1876. Since 1958 it has been occupied as a private house, known as Brettons. (fn. 129)

There were three chantries in Burrough Green church by 1468, (fn. 130) each with a chaplain presented by the lord of the manor. Catherine de Burgh in 1407 provided for a chaplain to celebrate at the altar of the Virgin Mary in the south side of Burrough church, and by will of 1409 left vestments and other bequests to the chantry. That chantry was valued at £14 19s. 3d. in 1534, (fn. 131) and was called Dame Catherine's, as was also the chantry, alternatively called the Burgh chantry, founded in 1460 under the will of Edmund Ingoldisthorpe at the same altar, for the souls of Catherine and others. (fn. 132) Bateman's chantry, founded in 1446 by John Bateman, rector of Burrough, in the chapel of the Annunciation, (fn. 133) was worth £12 in 1535. (fn. 134) In the 15th century each chantry was wealthy enough to pay a pension to a retired chaplain and support his successor. (fn. 135) In the early 16th century there was a parish guild of St. Augustine, with a guildhall for the poor. (fn. 136)

There were curates in the parish from the mid 16th century when the rector lived on his vicarage in Lancashire. (fn. 137) In 1564 the bishop reported that Thomas Holmes of Burrough Green was not conformable in religion. (fn. 138) A parishioner who appeared before the High Commission in 1640 was perhaps the one who failed to receive communion that year. (fn. 139) Thomas Wake was ejected from the rectory in 1644 on evidence of unseemly behaviour and Laudian attitudes. (fn. 140) Thomas Watson, rector from c. 1672, held the benefice in commendam when he became bishop of St. David's in 1687. After his deprivation he was charged with simony for letting Burrough rectory to another clergyman. Even before his appointment to the see he had not often resided in the parish, and in 1692 had a curate there. It was at Burrough Green that he was attacked by a mob in 1688 after being excepted from the Act of Indemnity. (fn. 141) Samuel Knight, rector 1707–46, was also a canon of Ely and Lincoln and archdeacon of Berkshire, and held three other parochial cures. He had a curate at Burrough Green, who in 1728 held two Sunday services and quarterly communions attended by c. 20 parishioners. (fn. 142) John Green, presented in 1746, became Regius professor of divinity at Cambridge, master of Corpus Christi College, dean of Lincoln, and vice-chancellor of Cambridge; he retained the rectory until after his promotion to the see of Lincoln in 1761, but never resided. (fn. 143) Green's successor J. F. Palmer lived in Bedfordshire in 1775 and by 1779 was insane. The cure was served by a curate who had been there under Green. (fn. 144)

Charles Wedge served as resident rector from 1801 to 1872. (fn. 145) In 1807 there was only one Sunday service, alternately morning and evening so that people could go once to Brinkley and once to Burrough Green. Only c. 12 attended the quarterly communions, but there was frequent catechizing in the summer. A Sunday school had been started by 1836. (fn. 146) In 1877 the rector was not yet resident but kept a curate. A third of the people attended church: there were two Sunday services and monthly communions, with once more c. 20 communicants, but services on other holy days had been discontinued. (fn. 147) In 1897 there were 29 regular communicants at the twice-monthly sacraments, and two-thirds of the parishioners went to at least one Sunday service. (fn. 148) From the early 20th century the rector of Burrough Green has also held Brinkley, where from the 1950s he has usually lived. (fn. 149)

The church of ST. AUGUSTINE, so called in 1409, (fn. 150) is built of field stones and rubble, and has a chancel, aisled nave, west tower, and south porch. The chancel, which is almost as long as the nave, dates from the 13th century. It may have been extended in the earlier 14th century. The two-stage tower and the aisles were added to the nave in the 14th century. The chancel was flanked by two chapels each stretching its full length, at least the south one being transeptal at its west end. The northern one was probably built in the early 14th century and the southern one somewhat later. The earlier windows of the chancel were blocked, and arches were opened into both chapels from the west end of the chancel and from the aisles. (fn. 151)

The south porch was added in the early 15th century when the doorway was renewed. From the mid 16th century the church began to fall into disrepair. In the early 17th century the steeple was repaired, but the Cage family refused to repair the chapels, for which they were responsible. (fn. 152) In 1644 William Dowsing broke 64 pictures and crucifixes at Burrough Green. (fn. 153) By 1665 the chancel, nave, and aisles were all in a bad condition. (fn. 154) In 1667 part of the roof had fallen in, and the church was described as a danger to the lives and health of parishioners. (fn. 155) Eventually the chapels were demolished and the arches leading to them blocked; square-headed windows were put into the chancel. Three bays of each aisle were given gables with double openings which served as a clerestory, and plain triangularheaded windows were put into the aisles. The plain octagonal font, dated 1672, was probably put in at the same time. The Cages seem to have been responsible for the work. (fn. 156) In the mid 18th century the altar stood not below the east window but against a wall running across the chancel c. 9 ft. from the east wall. At that date the 14th-century chancel screen was still standing. (fn. 157) It was removed between 1812 and 1877, by when the chancel arch had been demolished and two 18th-century urns placed on the responds. (fn. 158) By 1812 the nave and chancel had been given flat ceilings. (fn. 159)

The church is chiefly notable for its monuments to members of the de Burgh and Ingoldisthorpe families. One monument, a large tomb in the middle of the chancel bearing a brass of Edmund Ingoldisthorpe (d. 1456) has disappeared, probably during the 17th-century alterations. There remain six stone effigies and three canopied tombs. The three tombs all stand along the north wall of the chancel. The central one has an ogee arch which can also be traced on the outside wall of the chancel; it is in its original position. The other two have four-centred arches, and all three have canopies with crocketed mouldings in ogee curves. Since at least one of the tombs originally stood in the south chapel either of the outer two may have been moved. The effigies have been moved several times and are not well preserved. In the 18th century one of the figures under the centre canopy was on the outside chancel wall. It is impossible to identify the figures accurately. The lady and three knights in the chancel are probably all 14thcentury members of the de Burgh family. The two in the north aisle may be John Ingoldisthorpe (d. 1420) and his wife Elizabeth de Burgh (d. 1421). (fn. 160) In the middle of the chancel is a large black marble monument to Anthony Cage, rector (d. 1630).

In the 13th century Burrough church had two chalices, (fn. 161) and in the mid 16th century a silver chalice and paten. (fn. 162) The plate includes a cup dated 1633 given by Samuel Knight in 1741, and a paten given by Thomas Watson in 1692. (fn. 163) In the 16th century there were three bells. (fn. 164) In 1710 Samuel Knight gave a ring of five bells cast by John Waylett. The fourth was recast in 1807, and by the 20th century the third was cracked. (fn. 165) The registers begin in 1571 and except for a break between 1637 and 1660 are complete. (fn. 166)

Nonconformity.

In 1807 there were a few Presbyterians in Burrough Green, and in 1825 their numbers were increasing. In 1877 c. 80 people attended dissenting chapels in other parishes. (fn. 167)

Education.

One of the chantry chaplains seems to have acted as schoolmaster in the 15th century. (fn. 168) By will dated 1630 Dr. Anthony Cage, rector of Burrough Green, left a house and land, from which half of the rent was to go to a poor woman of the parish to teach reading, and half to be used for apprenticing. In 1794 the land was exchanged for closes and a blacksmith's shop in Burrough End. School dames were appointed from 1631, and in 1728 the school was described as a charity school for Burrough Green and Brinkley. (fn. 169)

In 1709 Thomas Watson, late bishop of St. David's, gave a messuage and pasture which helped to support another school in the school-house on the green built in the early 18th century under the will of Samuel Richardson whose date of death is not known. Samuel Knight (d. 1746), rector and Richardson's executor, also left houses and land to buy bibles for children leaving the school and to pay a master. The stone-built school is two storeys high with a central doorway above which are 2 niches with figures of a boy and a girl. Two wings were later added, one as a house for the master, the other as an alms-house. (fn. 170) By the early 19th century the educational portion of Cage's charity was usually paid to the master of Knight's school, although in 1801 the buildings were dilapidated and the master was not paid. (fn. 171)

After 1821 Cage's charity was again applied to a separate infant school. (fn. 172) In 1837 Knight's school was still badly conducted and the master unsatisfactory but by 1846 conditions had improved, and the two schools taught 62 boys and girls and 31 infants. (fn. 173) By 1877 Cage's school had ceased, and a Scheme of 1887 devoted its income to providing prizes, grants, lectures, and evening classes. (fn. 174) In 1876 Knight's school was reorganized and in 1877 reopened, attended by 15 boys and girls and 6 infants. (fn. 175) There was accommodation for 86, and numbers gradually increased, to 52 in 1884 and 98 in 1914. (fn. 176) The school received a grant from the 1880s, and in 1897 was liberally supported by Mrs. Porcher. A 1d. rate was also levied. (fn. 177) A new room was added in 1911. (fn. 178) Numbers fell again, to 37 in 1938, and in 1947 the seniors were transferred to Bottisham village college, moving to Linton in 1964. (fn. 179) A new building was erected in the school yard in 1975. The school was then attended by children from Burrough Green, Brinkley, and Westley Waterless. By 1975 Cage's charity was distributed in gifts for good attendance and to school leavers. (fn. 180)

Charity for the Poor.

By will dated 1719 John Jervis gave 10s. charged on a copyhold estate to be spent in Easter week on bread for the poor. Payment was apparently discontinued in 1820. (fn. 181)