Parishes: Haslingfield

HASLINGFIELD

The parish of Haslingfield (fn. 1) formerly contained 2,573 a., and was bounded on the north and east by the Bourn brook and the river Cam or Rhee. In 1934 375 a. of Trumpington east of the Rhee were added, when the rest of that parish was included in Cambridge, (fn. 2) but the history given below relates to the former area of the parish. Haslingfield's southern boundary with Barrington descends from the summit of the White Hill to the Rhee. The western boundary with Harlton partly follows old watercourses, the Long and Caldwell brooks. The parish lies partly on chalk, overlaid at the top of the down with boulder clay, and partly on gault, with gravel and alluvium by the streams to the north and east. The ground slopes sharply down from the hilltop at 215 ft. to the site of the village on the spring line at its foot, north of which the land is nearly level. The parish was predominantly arable, being formerly cultivated in three open fields, inclosed in 1814. The flat marshy areas along the rivers, such as Lingey Fen in the north-east corner, were devoted to pasture, especially for sheep. (fn. 3) By the 1930s much of the hilltop was covered with orchard, (fn. 4) and Chivers, the jam-makers, owned much land in the parish. (fn. 5) The down south of the village was being quarried for clunch by the 13th century, (fn. 6) but the quarry had been abandoned by 1900. (fn. 7)

The village forms a rough oblong, lying east and west, its perimeter composed of lanes surrounding the old closes and linked by narrow lanes to High Street, which runs eastward from the church. Strips of grass along parts of the street may represent the remains of the great green, recorded from the 14th century, (fn. 8) where grazing was still being regulated in 1761. (fn. 9) From c. 1550 a third of the enclosed area north of High Street was occupied by the park of Haslingfield Hall. The 17th century saw much new building. In 1648 7 people and in 1672 10 others were presented for building new cottages without putting enough land to them. (fn. 10) In 1662 49 dwellings were recorded, in 1674 57. (fn. 11) Several houses outside the perimeter lanes to the north-east and southwest date from that period. Farmsteads were also built at the edge of the village, such as River Farm to the east and to the west Willow Farm and Grove Farm (fn. 12) demolished in 1965. (fn. 13) By 1800 a ribbon of farm-houses and cottages had grown up along the road northward to Barton. (fn. 14) The number of houses in the village increased from 65 in 1801 to 135 in 1841. Between 1861 and 1921 it fluctuated between 150 and 165, but by 1961 had risen sharply to 289. (fn. 15) In 1927 15 building plots along the north edge of the manor park were put up for sale. (fn. 16) In the 1960s the village was overrun with bungalows and other speculative building, besides a council estate, and some old farm-houses were demolished to make way for them. Street-lighting had been installed along the main streets by 1969.

Haslingfield has always been one of the most populous parishes in the hundred. In 1086 81 inhabitants were recorded. (fn. 17) By 1279 there were c. 140 tenants. (fn. 18) In 1377 271 people paid the poll tax (fn. 19) and in 1524 70 people the subsidy. (fn. 20) There were 53 families in 1563, (fn. 21) about 60 c. 1685, (fn. 22) and about 50 in 1728. (fn. 23) The population rose steeply from 387 in 1801 to reach 871 by 1871, and though it declined from 754 in 1881 to 520 in 1901, it thereafter recovered, reaching 855 in 1961. (fn. 24) Few inhabitants were then employed in the parish; most worked in Cambridge, Harston, or Barrington. (fn. 25)

The village lies at the eastern end of the ancient Mare Way, which descends the slopes of the hill, past a barrow at Money Hill, to reach a disused river crossing towards Harston. (fn. 26) No main road passes through Haslingfield, which is linked only by by-roads to the neighbouring villages. Among ways mentioned in early documents are the Overway, which led along the hillside towards Harlton; (fn. 27) the Staneway, (fn. 28) probably passing the White Hill chapel; (fn. 29) a road north to Barton over a bridge built by 1298; (fn. 30) and the Stulps (later Cambridge) way, a track along the route of the modern Cantelupe Road to a ford and a footbridge to Grantchester. (fn. 31) The road to Harston formerly crossed the Rhee near Harston mill, but was diverted to its present course c. 1851. (fn. 32) The Bedford-Cambridge railway line, opened in 1862, (fn. 33) crossed the north part of the parish, with Lord's Bridge station at the extreme northwestern corner. The station was closed to goods traffic in 1965, (fn. 34) and the track had been removed by 1969. In 1971 the former railway line was being converted for mounting mobile telescope aerials belonging to the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, established across the boundary with Harlton since 1957. (fn. 35)

Haslingfield formerly contained several public houses, including by 1851 the Marquess of Granby, where the vestry usually met until the 1870s, and the Waggon and Horses, (fn. 36) by 1864 the Bushel and Strike, (fn. 37) from c. 1866 the Jolly Brewers, (fn. 38) and by 1879 the Little Rose. (fn. 39) Only the last two survived in 1969. Both had been recently rebuilt. (fn. 40)

In 1815 a recently established friendly society had 30 members. (fn. 41) In 1861 the village contained a coal club, a savings club, and two sick clubs, which met at the public houses. (fn. 42) A village library existed by 1880. (fn. 43) A recreation ground, bought with money bequeathed by Henry Badcock (d. 1921), was opened in 1925. (fn. 44)

Manors and Other Estates.

Before the Conquest the kings had held 7 hides at Haslingfield which yielded £10 by tale, besides a feorm of corn, beer, and honey, which by 1086 had been converted into a cash render of £13 8s. 4d. (fn. 45) The subsequent disposal of the estate is not recorded. It was probably alienated before 1130. (fn. 46)

By 1086 the 1½ hide formerly belonging to Eddeva the fair and two of her men had come to Count Alan the Red, lord of Richmond (d. 1089). Robert the priest held 1 hide of him, perhaps through an endowment by the count, whose brother and heir, Alan the Black (d. 1093), (fn. 47) granted 2 hides at Haslingfield to his brother's foundation, St. Mary's, York, (fn. 48) which thereafter held the estate of the honor of Richmond. (fn. 49) By 1235 Roger of Melford held the 1½ hide of the abbey in socage. (fn. 50) The abbot recovered the property, thenceforth called MELFORDS manor, from his successor William of Melford c. 1240. (fn. 51) The abbey had also received the church and tithes of Haslingfield with ½ hide from Roger de Somery, and 12 a. from Picot's tenant Sefrid probably before 1100. (fn. 52) The land is mentioned as the land of the parson or of the church in deeds of the 1230s. (fn. 53) The two estates remained in the abbey's possession until its surrender to the Crown in 1539. (fn. 54) They were distinguished in 1279 and 1328, when the manorial demesne and the glebe were severally estimated to contain 180 a. and 80 a., and 60 a. and 40 a., (fn. 55) but were subsequently confounded. Thus in 1523 John Crake leased all St. Mary's land in Haslingfield as the parsonage, but was also to hold the manor court for the abbey's tenants. (fn. 56) About 1588 the former abbey property was known as the parsonage land. (fn. 57) Its manor-house, also called the parsonage house, was in decay in 1523 when Crake was required to rebuild it in 10 years. Monks of St. Mary's studying at Cambridge would stay there as a refuge from the plague, or for recreation such as fishing. (fn. 58) The house still stood c. 1610 and its decayed remains were visible c. 1730. (fn. 59)

Two other religious houses had land in Haslingfield. Christine de Somery and her sons granted to the nunnery of Stratford at Bow an estate that was confirmed to it by King Stephen after 1139. (fn. 60) The estate was said in 1279 to have been the gift of the Mandeville earls of Essex, former lords of the Somery fee, (fn. 61) of whose successors the priory held in free alms ½ knight's fee, (fn. 62) later called MINCHINS manor, (fn. 63) until its dissolution in 1536. (fn. 64) In 1539 the manor was granted to Sir Ralph Sadleir, Secretary of State, who returned it to the Crown in 1547. (fn. 65) The nuns of St. Mary's, Clerkenwell, held one hide, given in the 12th century by William St. George as his sister Aubrey's dowry, and confirmed to them by his overlord Robert of Beach. (fn. 66) The grant was possibly made before 1161, when Adam de Somery was excused a fifth of his scutage under a royal writ for the nuns. (fn. 67) In 1279, however, their land was said to be held of Baldwin St. George, and was held of the priory in fee farm by Eustace of Aldfield, (fn. 68) to whose family the prioress had granted it before 1248 for 22s. a year. (fn. 69)

Haslingfield contained in 1086 two substantial lay fees, later united to form the manor of SCALES. Picot the sheriff had by 1086 combined the former property of 10 sokemen and others, including three men of King Edward, into a manor of 4¾ hides, held under him by Sefrid. (fn. 70) The manor passed with the barony of Bourn to William Peverel (fn. 71) who included it in the portion of his sister Alice on her marriage c. 1130–5 to Hamon Pecche. Hamon in turn gave it to Baldwin of Rochester who had married his daughter Maud. (fn. 72) She survived her husband and held the manor in 1185. (fn. 73) Her heir, her son Ralph, died probably in 1236, (fn. 74) and was succeeded by his son William of Rochester (d. 1249), whose heir was his brother Peter, a clerk, rector of Rivenhall (Essex). (fn. 75) Peter, having no legitimate sons, (fn. 76) arranged that his lands should pass to his younger brother Henry's daughter Alice and her husband Robert Scales (d. 1250), (fn. 77) on whom he had already before 1240 settled land at Haslingfield. (fn. 78) When Peter died in 1255, he was accordingly succeeded by Alice's son, Robert Scales (fn. 79) (d. c. 1266), through whose son Robert, Lord Scales (d. 1305), the manor descended to the Lords Scales, (fn. 80) who united it with that formerly held by the Somery family.

In 1086 Geoffrey de Mandeville held 5 hides; he had succeeded Ansgar the Staller, and his tenant Roger de Somery had succeeded Ansgar's man Sigar. (fn. 81) Roger's successor, Roger (II), was recorded between 1105 and 1130, (fn. 82) and his heir Adam between 1141 and 1166. (fn. 83) By 1161 the Mandeville lordship had probably lapsed, for Adam de Somery was paying scutage direct to the king. (fn. 84) He was succeeded by Roger (III), who died c. 1190, (fn. 85) leaving as his heir Miles, probably his son, a minor in the ward of Count John. (fn. 86) Miles was of age by 1199, (fn. 87) and, dying in 1229, (fn. 88) was succeeded by his son Roger (IV), who died childless in 1236. Roger's brother and heir Stephen (fn. 89) died, also childless, in 1239, (fn. 90) when Haslingfield was included in the dower of his widow Joan, who before 1241 married Godfrey of Crowcombe (d. c. 1246) (fn. 91) and before 1253 Ebles des Monts (d. 1268), (fn. 92) both stewards of the household to Henry III. (fn. 93) When Joan herself died in 1282, Haslingfield and her other dower lands were divided in four among the descendants of Stephen's four sisters and coheirs. (fn. 94) Maud, the eldest sister, had by Geoffrey of Bacheworth (d. before 1235) (fn. 95) a son Roger, who had livery of a quarter of the Haslingfield manor in 1285, and died before 1294. (fn. 96) His son John died in 1294, leaving as his heir a son Roger, (fn. 97) an idiot, whose lands remained in the king's hands until he died in 1308, when his younger brother Richard reclaimed them. (fn. 98) In 1309 Richard sold his quarter to Matthew Osgodby, (fn. 99) whose widow Catherine held it in 1316 (fn. 100) and, with her second husband Thomas Thodham, in 1327, when Matthew's heir Robert Osgodby sold the reversion to Hugh Turvill of Normanton (Lincs.). (fn. 101) In 1343 Hugh sold the property to Robert, 3rd Lord Scales (d. 1369). (fn. 102) The second of Stephen de Somery's sisters, Amabel, married Arnold de Monteny (d. 1252); (fn. 103) their son Robert had livery of his purparty in 1283, (fn. 104) and well before he died c. 1287 transferred his interest to his son Arnold (d. after 1321), (fn. 105) who in 1317 sold it to Henry le Mount. (fn. 106) In 1334 Henry sold the reversion after his and his wife's death to Robert, 3rd Lord Scales. (fn. 107) The share of Ela de Somery, the next of Stephen's sisters, descended to John, son of Hubert de Munchensy, (fn. 108) who had livery in 1282 and in 1283 granted it to his kinsman William de Munchensy of Edwardstone (Suff.). (fn. 109) Because William was in 1286 condemned for murder to go on Crusade, his lands were in the king's hands until he was pardoned in 1297. (fn. 110) By 1305 he had sold his quarter to Robert, 1st Lord Scales (d. 1305), and his wife Isabel. (fn. 111) The youngest Somery coheir Muriel married Thomas Picot (d. 1255) of Ratcliffe-on-Soar and Kingston-on-Soar (Notts.), (fn. 112) whose son Peter had livery in 1283. (fn. 113) Peter died in 1286 and his son and heir John about April 1294. (fn. 114) John's son John died in July 1294, when his heir was Peter's son Peter (d. 1313), his uncle (fn. 115) who by 1305 had also sold his share to Lord Scales. (fn. 116)

The united manors descended in the male line to Thomas, Lord Scales, killed in 1460. His daughter and heir Elizabeth married Anthony Wydville, later Earl Rivers, and died without issue in 1473. (fn. 117) Her husband, however, held the Scales estates until his execution in 1483, upon which Richard III granted them, including Haslingfield, to John Howard, duke of Norfolk (d. 1485). Howard's greatgrandfather, Robert Howard, had married Margaret, elder daughter of Robert, Lord Scales (d. 1369). (fn. 118) In 1486 the Scales lands were divided between the right heirs, (fn. 119) the Lancastrian John de Vere, earl of Oxford, heir general to Margaret, (fn. 120) and Sir William Tyndall, son of Thomas (d. 1448), son of William Tyndall (d. 1426) and Alana, daughter of Sir Simon Felbrigge (d. 1442), son of Sir Roger Felbrigge and Elizabeth, Margaret's sister. (fn. 121) Haslingfield fell in Tyndall's share. He died in 1498, and his son and successor John (fn. 122) in 1538. (fn. 123) John's son Thomas sold Scales manor first in 1540 to William Bowyer, alderman of London, (fn. 124) and then in 1541 to Dr. Thomas Wendy, physician to Henry VIII, (fn. 125) who set himself to acquire the remaining manors. In 1546 he obtained from the Crown, in exchange for an annuity on the Percy estates, Melfords manor and the rectory, then subject to the lease to Crake. (fn. 126) In 1549 Wendy bought the confiscated lands of the Haslingfield chantries, (fn. 127) and in 1550 Minchins manor. (fn. 128) His widow bought the remainder of the lease of Melfords from Clement Chicheley of Wimpole (fn. 129) to whom Crake had bequeathed it in 1541. (fn. 130) The Wendy family thereafter possessed the bulk of the parish.

Dr. Wendy, dying in 1560, devised Haslingfield to his second wife Margaret (d. 1570) for her life, with remainder to his brother John's son Thomas of all except the rectory; the rectory was to go to Caius College, which was to grant it to his heirs in fee-farm at £10 a year. (fn. 131) Margaret soon married William Worthington, who accordingly received Elizabeth I when she slept at Haslingfield Hall on her way to Cambridge in 1564. (fn. 132) Thomas Wendy the younger inherited Haslingfield in 1570, whereupon Caius granted him the rectory. He never paid the rent for 38 years, and in 1609 Caius released its rights for a rent-charge of 20 marks on Wendy's Barrington lands. (fn. 133) On Thomas's death in 1612 he was succeeded by his eldest son William, (fn. 134) who was knighted in 1618 (fn. 135) and died in 1623 without surviving male issue. Sir William's heir was his brother Francis's son Thomas (born 1615), (fn. 136) but William's widow Blanche held the estates until she died in 1629. (fn. 137) Sir Thomas Wendy, knighted at the Restoration, (fn. 138) was something of a virtuoso. He assembled at Haslingfield Hall a collection of medals, optic glasses, and other rarities, besides a considerable library which his executors gave to Balliol College, and brought home from his travels a Danish savant, Simon Ertman, who helped to found the parish school. Sir Thomas also died childless, in 1673, having settled most of his estates, including Haslingfield, on his nephew Thomas Stewart, son of his sister Susan and Thomas Stewart of Barton Mills (Suff.). (fn. 139)

In 1674 Stewart married Lucy Hatton, daughter of a London alderman, in order to pay his debts with her dowry, and included Haslingfield in her jointure. He discovered too late that she was nearly imbecile, and he had drunk himself to death by 1688. By 1692 his widow was married to a Mr. Smith (d. c. 1706). (fn. 140) She became a lunatic in 1702, but nevertheless held Haslingfield until she died in 1728, (fn. 141) when, all Susan Wendy's descendants being already dead, (fn. 142) Haslingfield passed under Sir Thomas Wendy's will to Sir Roger Burgoyne, Bt., of Sutton (Beds.), descended from Thomas Wendy (d. 1612). (fn. 143) In 1733 Sir Roger sold the estate to Baltzar Lyell, (fn. 144) an East India merchant of a Scottish family settled in Sweden. He died in 1740, leaving his estates for life to his widow Elizabeth, a former servant whom he had married. (fn. 145) She died c. 1752, and had by 1756 been succeeded by her brother-inlaw Abraham's son, Henry Lyell, of Bourn Hall, who had sold his lands in Sweden and emigrated to England c. 1740. (fn. 146) When Henry Lyell died in 1803 Haslingfield passed to his daughter Catherine's son, George West, Earl de la Warr (d. 1869), (fn. 147) in whose family it descended until its sale in 1900 to John Chivers, the jam manufacturer, who split up the estate, selling several of the farms the same year. (fn. 148) In 1910 the lordship of the manor was sold to S. R. Ginn, formerly its steward, on whose death in 1934 his family vested it in D. B. Ginn, a solicitor. (fn. 149)

Haslingfield Hall stands in a moated enclosure which may have been the centre of Scales manor. The Lords Scales perhaps resided there occasionally, and obtained permission from the abbot of St. Mary's, the appropriator, c. 1240, and from the bishop of Ely in 1348 and 1351 to establish an oratory in their manor-house. (fn. 150) A new house was probably begun by Dr. Wendy. An elaborate chimney-piece with classical details, later removed to Bourn Hall, bears the date 1555. Haslingfield Hall formerly consisted of a central hall flanked by two projecting turrets, with east and west wings possibly extending backwards. Sir Thomas Wendy added a third storey, refaced the south front and the sides in brick, and built behind the hall an ornate staircase, also re-erected at Bourn Hall. He also probably enclosed the garden south-east of the house with the surviving brick walls, articulated with pilasters and broken by a rusticated gateway. (fn. 151) The house was uninhabited after 1714, and partly ruinous in 1726. (fn. 152) Apart from its east end, converted into a farm-house, it was demolished between 1814 and 1819. Much of the material was used to construct Cantelupe Farm, to which also two barns, one of the 16th, one of the 17th century, were removed from Haslingfield Hall's outer enclosure. The circular 17th-century brick pigeon-house, however, remained on its original site. (fn. 153)

The other large estate in Haslingfield was that of Queens' College, sometimes called STERNES manor after the family of that name, ancestors of the novelist Lawrence Sterne. Part of the estate, amounting to a hide, had before 1200 belonged to Richard Pellam, whose daughter Agnes married first William of Widiford (d. before 1209) and afterwards Ellis of Haswell. William and Agnes, though they held the land in trust for their son Richard Pellam, alienated part of it to under-tenants, from whom the younger Richard attempted to recover it in 1227 without success. He retained only overlordship over Ellis, (fn. 154) who subsequently gave the land to Anglesey Priory, which was buying other land in Haslingfield at the time. (fn. 155) In 1353 the priory conveyed its property by an exchange to William Sterne (fn. 156) (d. c. 1354), (fn. 157) son of Walter (d. c. 1317). (fn. 158) whose father William (d. c. 1294) (fn. 159) was the son of Walter Sterne (fl. c. 1250) (fn. 160) and had held c. 90 a. in 1279. (fn. 161) The younger William's son Robert died c. 1378, leaving his son Walter as the ward of Lord Scales. (fn. 162) Walter (d. after 1421) removed to Stapleford c. 1413, (fn. 163) though junior branches of the family remained at Haslingfield. Robert Sterne, probably Walter's eldest son, married a Norfolk heiress, and dying before 1444 (fn. 164) was followed by his son Robert (d. 1459), (fn. 165) who was succeeded by his sons, Thomas (d. s.p. 1461), and Henry, who died under age in 1469. (fn. 166) Henry's son Henry came of age c. 1492, (fn. 167) and in 1495 sold his land at Haslingfield to Queens' College. (fn. 168) His son Thomas refused to accept the title of the college, which in 1520 bought off his claims for 100 marks. (fn. 169)

Queens' also acquired the lands of the Prisots, a family recorded at Haslingfield since the 1350s. (fn. 170) John Prisot (d. 1392) left 20 a. to his son John (II), (fn. 171) who dying c. 1427 left c. 42 a. to his son John (III), (fn. 172) a lawyer, who had by 1440 bought c. 27 a. more. (fn. 173) Subsequently he acquired most of the land amassed by Thomas Roun, 26 a. in 1441–2, (fn. 174) 40 a. in 1453. (fn. 175) Prisot became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1449 and died in 1461. (fn. 176) His widow Margaret sold his Haslingfield property to feoffees acting for Queens' in 1475. (fn. 177) The college's two farms in the village, covering c. 320 a., retained the names of Prisots and Sternes until inclosure. (fn. 178) Sternes included the site of Anglesey Priory's former manor-house, known as Anglesey's or Ansey's until the 16th century. (fn. 179) Michaelhouse too bought many small properties in Haslingfield between 1477 and 1485. (fn. 180) In 1492 it owned 34 a., (fn. 181) which passed on its incorporation with Trinity to that college, which in 1588 owned 57 a. (fn. 182) At inclosure Queens' was allotted 385 a. and Trinity 41 a. (fn. 183) Both colleges sold their farms between 1945 and 1950. (fn. 184)

Economic History.

Before the Conquest Haslingfield contained some eight sokemen, most of whom could dispose of their land as they chose. By 1086 its peasantry had been depressed in status: 29 villani and 50 bordars and cottars had 10½ ploughteams between them, enough to cultivate half the 21 plough-lands in the vill. The demesnes were understocked, having only 8 ploughs. The yearly yield of the manors had not been greatly increased since 1066. (fn. 185) In 1279 the demesnes still included almost half the cultivated area. That of the Somery manor amounted to c. 210 a. of arable, (fn. 186) that of the Scales manor probably to 420 a. At least 558 a. were held by free tenants for rent, including 96 a. not assignable to any manor, but only 314 a. were held in villeinage. The majority of tenants had small holdings of 10 a. or less. Only a few substantial families, such as those of Sterne, Young, and Serle, held 20 a. or more. There was some uniformity in the services owed from villein land. The largest unfree holdings owed 144 regular works, probably equivalent to three each week for 48 weeks, those of medium size two a week and the smallest one a week, except on the Somery manor where they rendered two a week. The works were valued for possible commutation in about the same proportions of 3, 2, and 1. (fn. 187) Special services, such as harvest-works, not specified in the Hundred Rolls, included on the Somery manor ploughings worth 4d. and carrying services worth 1½d. (fn. 188) On Melfords manor villeins rendered harvest-boons, mowing and reaping, and binding and carrying the corn. (fn. 189) The size of the villein holdings varied, however, between manor and manor, though their burdens were equal. On the Somery manor they were of 20 a., 10 a., and 5 a. respectively; on Minchins manor of 15 a., 9 a., and 1 a.; and on Scales manor of only 10 a., 5 a., and 1½ a. On Melfords manor all but 28 a. of the tenants' land was enfranchised by 1279, and two of the wealthier villeins on the Somery manor had also had their works permanently commuted for many years. (fn. 190) Despite the small proportion of heavily burdened villein land, some demesnes were in hand c. 1300. In 1296–7 the royal keepers were cultivating two-thirds of William de Munchensy's purparty and sold only 6 works. The servants then included a ploughman and a shepherd. (fn. 191) Until 1331 corn was being transported from the Melfords demesne to St. Mary's Abbey. (fn. 192) By 1340 the area under the plough was receding: 200 a. were then lying waste. (fn. 193) An agreement of 1484 over the tithes implies that much land had been out of arable cultivation beyond the memory of man, while other land had been abandoned more recently. (fn. 194) By the 15th century the manors were being farmed. On Scales manor, some customary tenants, such as Richard Bowde in 1383, had their lands enfranchised in the 14th century. (fn. 195) Lord Scales's farmer was indicted as a rebel in 1381, (fn. 196) and c. 1390 the manor was being farmed for the £40 given as its traditional value in 1589. (fn. 197) In the 1490s its bailiff was collecting c. £8 in assized rents and £14 11s. 10d. rent from its customary tenants. The demesne was then farmed for £20, and the manor yielded £38 net a year. (fn. 198) Melfords manor had long been farmed in 1480 when its homage declared that by custom the farmer should take over the demesne in May, but should not begin paying rent until the following Michaelmas. (fn. 199) In 1520 it was leased for 60 years. (fn. 200) The Minchins demesne was leased in 1430, (fn. 201) and for 40 years in 1534 to Robert Coxall, (fn. 202) whose family held it for three generations. (fn. 203) Some of the wealthier freeholders also leased their land. In 1398 Walter Sterne leased all his land to the vicar for 6 years. (fn. 204) In 1488 Henry Sterne leased Sternes manor. (fn. 205) The Prisot lands were probably in hand when inherited in 1427, (fn. 206) but at their sale to Queens' c. 1475 their income of £10 10s. arose mainly from rents. (fn. 207)

By the 13th century Haslingfield was being cultivated on a three-field rotation, although the term field was then and later frequently applied in deeds to groups of furlongs within the main fields. (fn. 208) Down field, by 1520 called Chapel field after the White Hill chapel, covered the hillside south of the village, and included the 'red clay' on the summit. (fn. 209) Rowlowe field (fn. 210) lay immediately north of the village; its westernmost part across the Barton road was latterly called Caldwell (later Caudle) field. (fn. 211) The northernmost field by the Bourn brook was called Dawland field. (fn. 212) By 1773 the fields were known respectively as Hill, Middle, and Low fields, and at inclosure as High, Middle, and Low fields. (fn. 213) The meadows lay along the river banks, being called Southmead south of the village (fn. 214) and Langholm north of it as far as Lingey fen. (fn. 215) Other land along the Barton road, mostly west of it, was kept as common pasture. It was possibly called Aldefeld or Alfeld (later Offal End) Green, (fn. 216) and at inclosure was known as the Cow and Sheep Hill Common. (fn. 217) During the mid 16th century butchers from Cambridge were accused of fattening their stock on Haslingfield's commons. In 1551 the stint of cattle was fixed at 3 cows to each 'plough-land' of 20 a., which also entitled its owner to keep 2 on his several pasture. (fn. 218) The stint was reduced from 4 to 3 in 1648, when cottagers were allowed 3 cows each. (fn. 219) The stints were again regulated in 1761, when cottagers could run 4 sheep on the common, while landholders enjoyed one sheep-gate for each 2 a. (fn. 220)

Sheep-farming had long been important in Haslingfield: 224 sheep were recorded there in 1086. (fn. 221) In 1185 the Rochester manor was capable of supporting 240 sheep. (fn. 222) The village supplied almost 29 stone to a levy of wool in 1340. (fn. 223) In 1736 Baltzar Lyell alleged that the Queens' College tenants had taken advantage of his predecessor Mrs. Smith's imbecility to establish a separate fold for their sheep c. 1706, infringing the lord of the manor's rights. (fn. 224) In 1761 937 sheep-gates were being exercised. (fn. 225) Eight shepherds were still working in Haslingfield in 1841. (fn. 226)

Before 1560 Dr. Wendy had inclosed certain lands obtained by exchange with his tenants, (fn. 227) which may be identical with the fields containing over 60 a., lying just north of the manor-house park in the Middle field, which were not allotted in the inclosure award. (fn. 228) By the mid 17th century Sir Thomas Wendy had bought many of the lesser freehold and copyhold properties. (fn. 229) Only 67 a. of copyhold land were left at inclosure. (fn. 230) Another 37 a. in the north-west corner of the parish were inclosed by the lord shortly after 1800. (fn. 231) The only substantial properties left outside the Wendy lands were the college and charity estates. On the former the colleges followed their usual policy of long leases at low rents, often to successive generations of the same family. Thus between 1558 and 1593 Queens' leased Prisot's farm to the heirs of William Godfrey who had farmed Sternes c. 1517. (fn. 232) Robert Hardy and his descendants farmed the Trinity land between 1588 and 1661. (fn. 233) By the late 17th century the college farms were sometimes sublet at a considerable profit. About 1690 a sub-lessee of Sternes was paying c. £30 a year to a head-tenant who had himself obtained a 22-year lease at c. £7 a year for a fine of only £80. (fn. 234) By 1777 Queens' College received a higher proportion of the gross rent: £63 out of £84 for Sterne's and £49 out of £60 for Prisot's. (fn. 235)

An inclosure Act was obtained in 1810, the transfer of lands completed by 1814, and the award made in 1815. (fn. 236) The largest allotment went to Lord de la Warr, who received 1,498 a. to add to his 246 a. of old inclosures, amounting in all to 70 per cent of the parish. Queens' College's two lessees received 385 a., Trinity 41 a., and Skelman's charity 74 a. Eight other owners, including Pembroke College and Christ's Hospital, had 102 a. between them, but only two of them were allotted over 20 a. Sixteen smallholders shared 57 a. (fn. 237) The de la Warr estate was subsequently divided into some 10 farms. The largest of them was the newly established Cantelupe farm, north-east of the village, with 417 a. From the 1830s to the 1880s the Wallis family occupied over half the estate, including Manor, Willow, and River farms. (fn. 238) William Coxall, of an ancient local family, and his descendants held Trinity farm until the 1880s. (fn. 239) In 1851 there were c. 20 farms in the village: five, containing 200 a. or more, covered over 1,730 a. and three of over 100 a. another 375 a. ; 2,450 a. were then under cultivation, including c. 380 a. of grassland. The farms provided employment for 117 labourers out of over 150 living in the village. (fn. 240) Coprolites were dug in Haslingfield between the 1860s and 1880s. (fn. 241) The village suffered severe distress after the 1870s. The parish council devoted much effort to reducing the assessment to rates of agricultural land, seeking to transfer the burden to the public houses, the coprolite diggings, the railway, and the tithes. (fn. 242) The rent of Charity farm had to be reduced from £150 to £110 in 1887 and £60 in 1896. (fn. 243) Wages had fallen to 12s. a week by 1880, and, after the market for coprolites collapsed c. 1884, to 6s. or 9s. by 1888. The vicar vainly appealed to the Charity Commission in 1880 and 1888 for money from the united charities' educational funds to assist the many poor and sick villagers who continually applied to him. (fn. 244) In 1889 the labourers were agitating for the charity lands to be used for allotments and formed a branch of the Rural Labourers' League for that purpose. (fn. 245) There was again unemployment in the parish c. 1922. (fn. 246) Haslingfield still contained about eight farms in the 1930s, but in 1937 the three farms belonging to Chivers were being managed together. (fn. 247)

In 1086 Picot owned a mill. (fn. 248) Before 1170 Robert of Beach granted to Clerkenwell Priory the reversion of half a mill standing on his land. (fn. 249) Its site may be indicated by the mill marsh mentioned in 1266 and the mill bridge recorded in 1337, (fn. 250) both probably adjacent to the northernmost field. A water-mill, the way to which was close to the village, was recorded in 1317 and 1455. (fn. 251) In 1560 Dr. Wendy bequeathed the lease of his mill in Haslingfield, possibly the mill which his grandson Thomas devised in 1626 as Haslingfield mill in Hauxton. (fn. 252) It may have stood east of the village, where the boundary of Hauxton crosses the Rhee and runs along a dry channel. (fn. 253) In 1328 a windmill stood on top of the down towards Barrington, where St. Mary's chapel was later built. (fn. 254)

Local Government.

In 1279 Joan de Somery was holding for life on her manor the same liberties, mainly unspecified, as Henry III had granted to her second husband Godfrey of Crowcombe on his own estates; (fn. 255) the abbot of St. Mary's, York, claimed view of frankpledge and the assize of bread and ale by prescription on the land he had recovered from the Melfords. Those liberties were formally forfeited to the Crown in 1299, because their ownership had changed hands without licence. (fn. 256) The prioress of Stratford enjoyed, under charters of Stephen, Henry II, and Henry III, liberties including infangthief, her men's amercements, and felons' chattels, besides view of frankpledge by prescription. (fn. 257)

On Melfords, Minchins, and Scales manors separate courts, exercising leet jurisdiction, were held until the 16th century, though latterly rather infrequently. (fn. 258) In 1523 the lessee of Melfords was required by his lease to hold a court once a year to keep order among the tenants. (fn. 259) On Scales manor, owing to the negligence of the lord's officers, courts were seldom held, in hindrance of the common weal (res publica) of the village. In 1532 the tenants agreed, in return for land granted to the township, that the lord might distrain for fines without awaiting presentation by the homage. (fn. 260) A reeve was still being elected for Scales manor in 1550, when Dr. Wendy brought together the three manorial courts, (fn. 261) which continued to make orders regulating cultivation and common rights until 1761. (fn. 262) The court elected four field-reeves and a hayward to enforce them, besides two constables. (fn. 263) In 1589 the churchwardens were joined with the 'chief of the town' in controlling the mowing of the common balks. (fn. 264) By 1612 they were renting the quarry south of the town. (fn. 265) They may have obtained from it material for road-making, as was done in the 19th century, after it had been allotted to the parish for that purpose at inclosure. (fn. 266) A gravel-pit there had been closed by 1896, (fn. 267) and in 1964 was being used as a refuse tip. (fn. 268)

Expenditure on the poor stood at £85 in 1776. In 1803 52 people were relieved, at a cost of £230, besides £100 spent on removals. (fn. 269) Expenditure reached a peak of £775 in 1814, with 28 persons on relief, but only £250 was spent the next year on 24 persons, (fn. 270) and less than £200 a year over the following 10 years. (fn. 271) Poor-relief c. 1830 went mostly to the sick, the aged, and children. The parish itself employed no paupers. (fn. 272) In 1836 Haslingfield was included in the Chesterton poor law union. (fn. 273) The vestry, however, still attempted to manage the local poor. In 1845 it arranged for surplus labourers to be allotted among the farmers according to the rates that they paid, (fn. 274) and in the 1840s it was raising money to assist emigrants. (fn. 275) In 1848 it engaged a policeman for 6 months as an experiment, (fn. 276) and in 1853 during an epidemic promoted vaccination and elected a temporary board of health. (fn. 277) A parish council was first elected to replace the vestry in 1901. (fn. 278) Haslingfield remained in the Chesterton R.D. in 1969.

Church.

Probably before 1100 Roger de Somery gave the church of Haslingfield to St. Mary's Abbey, York, (fn. 279) which vindicated its title to the advowson against Miles de Somery in 1206, (fn. 280) and thenceforth held it until the Dissolution. Picot, however, had granted two-thirds of the tithes of his demesne to Barnwell Priory. (fn. 281) The portion, later converted into a pension varying between £1 and 2 marks, (fn. 282) was not extinguished until 1546. (fn. 283) By the 1230s the church had been appropriated to St. Mary's, and a vicarage established, (fn. 284) whose patronage remained with the abbey and was in 1546 granted with the rectory estate to Dr. Wendy. (fn. 285) The advowson descended with the manor until 1688, (fn. 286) and probably until 1728, (fn. 287) and passed with it to the Lyells. (fn. 288) The patrons sometimes disposed of turns: in 1714 and 1719 vicars were presented by Dr. Kemp Harward, (fn. 289) and in 1746 by John Perkins, probably then vicar of Thriplow, who put in his kinsman Timothy Perkins. (fn. 290) In 1765 the advowson was bought by John Michell (d. 1766) of Bayfield (Norf.). (fn. 291) He was succeeded by his son Charles Michell (d. 1841) of Forcett Hall (Yorks. N.R.), whose grandson and heir John Michell (d. 1896) (fn. 292) sold it in 1884. It was bought by G. C. Clements, then vicar, (fn. 293) whose representatives in 1898 sold it to Mrs. H. E. Davies, wife of his successor, A. V. Davies. In 1931 she left it to her husband (d. 1939) whose son J. R. A. Davies sold it to the Ely Diocesan Board of Patronage in 1940. (fn. 294)

In 1291 the vicar was receiving £4 6s. 8d. (fn. 295) The abbey took almost all the tithes, mortuaries, and similar dues. Under the ordination of his benefice the vicar had only the altarage, the tithe on flax and hemp, and 3 marks out of the tithe on corn. From that meagre income he was required to repair the chancel and pay a pension of 20s. to the abbey's Suffolk cell of Rumburgh. In 1484, after a lawsuit, the abbey conceded to the vicar as an augmentation of his benefice all offerings and mortuaries, all the small tithes, and the tithe on hay and other tithable produce from all land that had been out of cultivation time out of mind, with one mark more in cash. (fn. 296) In 1536 the vicarage was worth £8 10s. 7d. a year. (fn. 297) It had no glebe apart from a close of 3 a. adjoining the vicar's house given in 1362. (fn. 298) In 1638 it was worth £28 a year, including 33s. 4d. received from the impropriator. (fn. 299) Sir Thomas Wendy allowed Matthew Scrivener, vicar 1667–88, besides 20 marks due under an old composition, £36 13s. 8d. instead of the small tithes due from Wendy's property. In his will of 1673 he also bequeathed to Scrivener, so long as he remained vicar, another £40 a year out of the rectory, making a total augmentation of £90 a year. The rectory itself was settled with Sir Thomas's other lands on his sister Susan Stewart's descendants, and, if their line failed, on Sir Roger Burgoyne upon trust to settle the impropriation, both glebe and tithes, upon the vicars in perpetuity. (fn. 300) All branches of the Stewart family were extinct by 1728 when Thomas Stewart's widow, Mrs. Smith, whose jointure included the rectory, died. (fn. 301) The vicar's income was expected to increase from £80 to £240 when the great tithes fell in. (fn. 302) Sir Roger Burgoyne conveyed the rectory to the vicar in 1731. John Barnwell, then vicar (1719–46), sued him to recover the parsonage house and extensive glebe implied in the lease of 1523 and mentioned in old deeds which Barnwell had abstracted from Haslingfield Hall, but the glebe had long since been confounded with the other Wendy property. (fn. 303) Barnwell dropped his suit in 1739 (fn. 304) after an agreement by which the great tithes were apparently divided equally between the patron as impropriator and the vicar. (fn. 305) The impropriator's share passed with the advowson, perhaps until 1940. (fn. 306) About 1951 it was owned by the Revd. W. F. Buttle. (fn. 307) About 1830 the vicar's net income was £581. (fn. 308) The tithes were commuted for a rent-charge in 1842, the vicar receiving £651 and the lay rector £272 a year. (fn. 309) The vicar then owned 4 a. of glebe. His gross income was £719 in 1873, (fn. 310) but fell to £460 in 1896. (fn. 311)

The vicarage, in decay in 1554, (fn. 312) was in repair by 1638, when it was described as a convenient tiled mansion with a barn. (fn. 313) The small house was rebuilt by Timothy Perkins c. 1761 and later enlarged in Victorian Gothic style, in brick. (fn. 314)

In the Middle Ages the parish contained several chantries. By the 1260s land was being given to the parishioners to support a chaplain saying mass at St. Mary's altar in the church. (fn. 315) In the 15th century the estate was called the land of the 'old service of St. Mary in the church' (fn. 316) to distinguish it from that of St. Mary 'in the chapel'. (fn. 317) The chapel, which stood in the north-east part of the churchyard, (fn. 318) was founded c. 1344, when Robert, Lord Scales (d. 1369), gave 50 a. to support a chantry in it for the guild of the Assumption founded in 1343. (fn. 319) The advowson of the chantry descended with Scales manor. (fn. 320) The aldermen and brethren of the guild c. 1390 had to supplement the rent to meet their chaplain's salary. (fn. 321) In 1546 the guild owned 86 a. in Haslingfield, yielding £5 8s. in rent, and paid the chaplain 65s. 4d. Its lands were then divided in lots of 8–9 a. among 12 men, probably its brethren. (fn. 322) Later, until the 19th century, the chapel was used as a schoolroom. (fn. 323) A guild of the Nativity supported a mass at an altar in the church on which by 1520 an image of the Nativity stood. Possibly it was identical with the 'old service'. In 1392 the guild was licensed to acquire 20 a. to maintain masses and other pious works, in memory of men some of whom had died 40 years before. (fn. 324) In 1546 it owned 74 a. yielding £4 6s. 2d. and paid its priest 64s. 7d. (fn. 325) A third guild, of the Trinity, established by 1403 and still surviving in 1527, also held some land and maintained a light. (fn. 326) Another light for the sepulchre had by 1425 a bailiff to administer bequests for it. (fn. 327) Distinct from those parochial foundations was the chapel of St. Mary on the White Hill (in monte albo), which stood on the summit of the down by the Barrington road. (fn. 328) Until the Reformation pilgrimages were made to the Virgin's image there at Easter, and one of the lords Scales was believed, c. 1600, to have dedicated his chains there in thanksgiving for a miraculous deliverance from captivity. (fn. 329) It could have been Thomas, Lord Scales, captured at the battle of Patay in 1429. (fn. 330) The chapel is first recorded in documents in 1432, (fn. 331) and a seal of Pope Martin V found nearby in 1885 (fn. 332) also suggests that it was founded c. 1430. In 1488 Bishop Alcock issued an indulgence for its repair. (fn. 333) The neighbouring furlong was still said to lie 'by the chapel door' in the late 16th century, (fn. 334) and though no remains survived in 1969 the site was marked by the name Chapel Bush. (fn. 335)

An almost continuous series of vicars can be established from the mid 13th century. Two chaplains, possibly the chantry priests, were also dwelling at Haslingfield in 1378 and 1406. (fn. 336) From the 1440s several vicars had Cambridge degrees. Two, William Spalding, vicar c. 1448 and later Dean of the Arches, and Richard Laverok, vicar c. 1457 to 1473, served as officials in the diocese of Ely. Both were pluralists, as were their successors Robert Adam, 1473–85, and Richard Arrington, 1485–1521. (fn. 337) From the 16th century, the vicars were normally Cambridge graduates. (fn. 338) Griffith Tryghern, D.C.L., vicar c. 1554 to 1564, was found in 1560 incapable of preaching, and only read the Book of Homilies. (fn. 339) His successor Michael Calvert, 1564–73, also held Barrington and employed a curate who succeeded him at Haslingfield. (fn. 340) The patron Thomas Wendy (d. 1612) (fn. 341) had puritanical inclinations, and those whom he presented included John Smith, forced to resign as vicar in 1599 for refusing to observe ceremonies required by the Prayer Book. (fn. 342) James Greenwood, vicar 1618–39, was accused in 1624 of not wearing a surplice. (fn. 343) His successor, Griffith Hatley, was ejected in 1646. (fn. 344) In 1650 Thomas Wendy (d. 1673) was taking the profits of the vicarage and paying Mr. Quarles, an intruded fellow of Peterhouse, a salary for serving the cure, (fn. 345) but in 1656 he presented Henry Chamberlain, an ejected fellow of Oriel, (fn. 346) and in 1666 Matthew Scrivener, an apologist for Anglicanism. (fn. 347) After 1700 the vicars employed curates, who included, 1711–13, the mystical writer and non-juror, William Law. (fn. 348) John Barnwell, 1719–46, who also held Trumpington, was licensed not to reside because he lived in Cambridge. (fn. 349) In 1728 he was paying £20 a year to a fellow of Trinity serving as curate, who held two services on Sundays. (fn. 350) His successor Timothy Perkins, vicar 1746–88, resided regularly, (fn. 351) but the next vicar again served through curates, (fn. 352) and Stephen Allen, 1800–47, who had ruined himself in his youth by extravagance and an elopement, lived at his wealthier living of St. Margaret's, King's Lynn. (fn. 353) He employed as curate William Clark, who served under him and his absentee successor from 1806 to 1860. (fn. 354) In his last years Clark was assisted by C. F. Mackenzie, later a missionary bishop in Central Africa. (fn. 355) Clark ministered diligently, notwithstanding difficulties with a dissenting churchwarden over rates for church repairs. (fn. 356) There were few communicants in 1807, but 28 in 1825 and 50 in 1836. (fn. 357) In 1851 there were up to 400 church-goers, (fn. 358) and 700 in 1873 when besides from two to four services a week communion was held 16 times a year. (fn. 359) Later vicars had long incumbencies, G. C. Clements, who restored the church, from 1863 to 1898, A. V. Davies from 1898 to 1940. G. E. Davis, vicar 1940–58, (fn. 360) compiled a history of the parish. (fn. 361)

The church of ALL SAINTS is mostly built of clunch ashlar and field stones, and has a chancel with organ chamber, aisled and clerestoried nave with north and south porches, and west tower. Only loose stonework and parts of the chancel walls survive from the 12th-century church. (fn. 362) About 1300 the chancel was refenestrated: glass from one window, moved to the vestry, bears the arms of Scales and Burnel. (fn. 363) The nave was built over an apparently long period in the 13th and 14th centuries, starting with the chancel arch, followed by the north aisle and porch and then the south aisle and porch. The Scales family, whose arms together with those of Ufford (fn. 364) are on the north aisle roof, presumably bore part at least of the cost.

The rebuilt church was reconsecrated in 1352, (fn. 365) but it was not until the tower was finished later in the century that the medieval church was structurally complete. The screen and some surviving seating in the nave were put in in the 15th century. The pulpit, formerly incorporated in an 18thcentury double-decker, (fn. 366) has open-work Gothic tracery on a trumpet stem. The chancel, which the vicar could hardly afford to maintain, was already in bad condition in 1406, when Archbishop Arundel ordered the profits of the benefice to be sequestrated to repair its roof. (fn. 367) It was again said to be in decay c. 1560. (fn. 368) Sir William Wendy restored it c. 1619, installing a new wagon-roof painted with patterns and emblems, (fn. 369) renewed by G. C. Clements, vicar 1863–96. (fn. 370) Wendy may also have rebuilt the east wall of the chancel, in which a 'debased' 17thcentury window survived until 1870, and reconstructed and lowered the nave roof. (fn. 371) The chancel contains several 17th-century monuments of the Wendy family, including that erected in 1619 by Sir William to his father Thomas, a recess flanked by pillars in marble and alabaster, within which the effigies of Thomas, in academic robes, and his son, in armour, kneel facing their wives; and that of Sir Thomas Wendy, K.B., whose statue stands in a classical niche, wearing his robes of the Bath. An altar-tomb to Dr. Wendy formerly stood north of the altar, (fn. 372) but was mislaid when the church was restored by the architect William Fawcett in 1875– 9, when the remains of the medieval rood-screen were also removed. (fn. 373) Fawcett again rebuilt the east wall, modelling its window on those in the south aisle, reroofed the nave, and added a vestry. The tower, found to be insecure in 1892, was repaired in 1898–1900. (fn. 374)

The font is 14th-century and has a 17th-century wooden cover. In 1552 there were three bells. (fn. 375) Five bells were recast in 1816, two of them retaining their earlier dates, and one was again recast in 1960. (fn. 376) The plate includes a cup of 1847, a cup and paten of 1853, and a paten of 1871.

The maintenance of the church fabric was one of the objects of Skelman's and Wendy's charities. (fn. 377) In 1966 £31 was received for that purpose. (fn. 378) From an unknown date the rent of land called Clock Holt, for which 1 a. was allotted at inclosure, (fn. 379) was devoted to winding and repairing the church clock. (fn. 380) In 1861 the money, some 30s. a year, was being used to pay the sexton's wages, though the clock was not working. In 1864 the Holt was incorporated in the united charities estate, but from the 1880s to 1928 it was occupied rent-free by the sexton for winding the clock. In 1939 the church surrendered its rent, then £3, to the Haslingfield charities. (fn. 381) The income from £30 capital that was paid by 1843 under the will of Robert Barber, dated 1825, for a prize for repeating the catechism (fn. 382) was still being distributed in 1966. (fn. 383)

Nonconformity.

There were two nonconformists in 1675, (fn. 384) and four dissenters were recorded in 1676. (fn. 385) In 1682 six people were presented as schismatics, and one woman for absence from church, (fn. 386) and in 1686 four people were presented for the latter offence. (fn. 387) There were said to be three families of Independents in 1728. (fn. 388) Robert Robinson, who became pastor of the Stone Yard Baptist chapel, Cambridge, in 1761, (fn. 389) gave occasional lectures in Haslingfield to congregations of c. 100. (fn. 390) Two families of dissenters and several followers of John Berridge were recorded in 1783, (fn. 391) and buildings were registered for Protestant dissenting worship in 1811, 1822, and 1823. (fn. 392) In 1825 it was reported that teachers occasionally came to the parish, but that the numbers attending the parish church had certainly not declined. (fn. 393) There were further registrations in 1829, (fn. 394) 1831, 1836, and 1837. (fn. 395)

The Providence chapel was built in 1836. It was used by Independents and Baptists in 1851, when there was accommodation for 150 and a congregation of 100. (fn. 396) The chapel was still held jointly by Independents and Baptists in 1855 (fn. 397) and it was presumably the subordinate station, recorded until 1873, of the Independent church at Barrington. (fn. 398)

From 1852 Primitive Methodists from Cambridge held open-air meetings at Haslingfield, and preaching was apparently continuous after 1861. They were unable to build or hire a meeting-place until in 1867 Moses Mason of Haslingfield gave a site and offered to build a chapel. (fn. 399) The chapel was built in 1868, (fn. 400) and in 1871 it shared a minister with Harlton. (fn. 401) In 1873 it was said that c. 50 people used it, (fn. 402) and in 1897 that about one-fifth of the inhabitants were Chapel. (fn. 403) In 1929 some dissenting parents liked their children to be taught the catechism. (fn. 404) The chapel stands in High Street. It was registered for marriage in 1936, (fn. 405) when it became part of the Cambridge circuit, on the union of the Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists there. (fn. 406) It had 18 members in 1969. (fn. 407)

Education.

A schoolmaster was recorded in 1601, 1607, 1610, and 1618. (fn. 408) Although William Skelman's will, (fn. 409) dated 1494, made no provision for education, in 1640 the Commissioners of Charitable Uses decreed that £6 should be paid yearly to the curate or another to teach all the children of Haslingfield, including ten free of charge. (fn. 410) Simon Ertman, by his will dated 1658, gave £400, settled in the form of £20 rent-charge by Sir Thomas Wendy's will proved in 1674, for the maintenance of a schoolmaster. His gift appears to have been used always for education, although his will allowed for other charitable uses. (fn. 411) The Skelman and Ertman charities were at first used to support different schools, (fn. 412) but by 1798 only one school was recorded. (fn. 413) In 1806 £16 from Ertman's gift and apparently £6 from Skelman's charity were used for education, (fn. 414) and in 1818 there were three schools, each with 30 children: a Sunday school, the school endowed by Simon Ertman, and a school preparatory to it. (fn. 415) The mistress of the last received £10 a year from Skelman's charity. (fn. 416)

The school endowed by Simon Ertman was united with the National Society in 1828. (fn. 417) A teacher's house flanked by separate schoolrooms for boys and girls was built c. 1830, (fn. 418) as a National day- and Sunday school, with the aid of more than £200 from the curate and £70 from the National Society. (fn. 419) The site belonged to Earl de la Warr. (fn. 420) In 1833 17 boys and 26 girls attended the Sunday school, (fn. 421) and there were about 80 pupils at the dayschool in 1837, of whom 20 were 'pay scholars' from neighbouring places, and nearly two-thirds were girls. School fees were charged on a graduated scale, and no one was excluded on grounds of religious dissent. (fn. 422) Financial support from Ertman's charity was constant: £20 in both 1833 (fn. 423) and 1861. (fn. 424) That from Skelman's charity fluctuated: £20 in 1833, (fn. 425) reduced to £15 in 1834, (fn. 426) rising to £26 in 1861. (fn. 427)

Until the 19th century an infants' school was held in the former chapel of the chantry of the Assumption. (fn. 428) Apparently a new infants' school was established by voluntary subscription in 1833, when 19 boys and 10 girls were taught at their parents' expense. (fn. 429) In 1837 the school taught children until they were five, and received c. £10 a year from the vicar, which he claimed from Skelman's charity. (fn. 430) The payment of £10 still continued in 1861. (fn. 431) By a Charity Commission Scheme of 1864 four-sevenths of the net income of the combined charities (fn. 432) was allotted to the parochial and infants' schools. Children under 16 of all poor inhabitants were eligible for a place, and one-sixth of the schools' income could be spent on industrial training at the girls' school. The children were allowed religious instruction other than Anglican and might attend dissenting places of worship, although provision was made for diocesan inspection of the schools. (fn. 433)

In 1867 none of the three teachers was certificated, and the schoolmaster acted as church clerk, attending funerals and marriages during school hours. (fn. 434) School fees were 1d. or 2d., (fn. 435) and the school had not been cleaned for five years. The infants' school, built on glebe land, was separate from the other school buildings. (fn. 436)

In 1875 a Scheme of the Endowed Schools Commission established a non-denominational governing body, and allotted to the school foursevenths of the ordinary income of the Haslingfield charities and six-sevenths of the income from coprolite digging. Up to £75 a year could be spent on the general purposes of the school, and £10 on the repair of the buildings. The governors were to make 'proper regulations' for religious instruction. In 1874–5 £867 from the proceeds of coprolites was spent on a new schoolroom, adjacent to the existing building, and the site was enlarged. In 1880 the new building was used as a mixed schoolroom, while the infants used the former girls' schoolroom; subjects taught included grammar, geography, mapping, surveying, English history, algebra, Euclid, scripture history, and general information, especially that which would be useful for those emigrating to the colonies. The 1875 Scheme provided for an upper department and for exhibitions for higher education, but by 1880 accumulated higher education income was £437 10s., since the upper department had not been formed and no exhibitions had been awarded, parents being unable to supplement them. School fees were reduced in the same year. (fn. 437) Earl de la Warr conveyed the site and the schoolmaster's garden to the vicar in 1881, (fn. 438) and in the following year £550 from the proceeds of coprolites was spent on a new teacher's house. (fn. 439)

An annual government grant was received after 1875. (fn. 440) In 1880 the school received £85 from endowment, c. £75 in grant, and c. £71 10s. in fees. (fn. 441) Average attendance declined from 130 in 1881 (fn. 442) to 75 in 1893, when school fees were no longer paid. (fn. 443) There was a successful evening school in 1873, (fn. 444) and an evening school in receipt of a government grant was recorded between 1898 and 1901. (fn. 445)

The Scheme of 1875 was altered by a Scheme of 1899. (fn. 446) Regulations made in 1903 opened competition for secondary and higher education exhibitions, financed by the Haslingfield United Charities, (fn. 447) to children from Harlton, Comberton, Barton, Grantchester, Trumpington, Hauxton, Harston, and Barrington, though preference was given to those from Haslingfield. In 1906 a Charity Commission Order established the Haslingfield United Educational Foundation as a separate charity endowed with the school buildings, teacher's house, garden, and site, and £4,823 stock. Accumulated income amounted to £638 in 1926 when the educational foundation was the richest in the administrative county. In 1927 a Board of Education Scheme repealed the provisions for exhibitions, and nearly £2,000 from the sale of stock and from accumulated income was spent on extending the school buildings in 1928–9. (fn. 448)

Church of England religious instruction was given until c. 1902. In 1906 there was no denominational teaching, (fn. 449) but Church of England instruction was restored c. 1924, and continued five years later. In 1929 senior children from Harlton and Little Eversden attended the school, (fn. 450) and average attendance was 90 in 1938. (fn. 451) The school became a Controlled Non-Denominational School in 1951, (fn. 452) and in 1966 the united educational foundation received c. £250 income, (fn. 453) spent mainly in grants for the recreation ground, school prizes, furniture, and a swimming-pool. (fn. 454) In 1970 there were 127 children, including those from Harlton, and children over 11 attended Comberton village college. (fn. 455)

There was a girls' boarding-school kept by Mrs. John Watson c. 1864. (fn. 456)

Charities for the Poor.

The separate histories of the two most important endowed charities, Skelman's and Wendy's, are here outlined until 1861, and are followed by a history of the charities as combined and reorganized by various Schemes after 1863. (fn. 457) By his will dated 1494 William Skelman gave 11 a. of land to augment the salary of the priest in the chantry of the Assumption, and a messuage and croft in Haslingfield to find a priest for the chantry of the Nativity. He also gave 20s. a year for his obit, any surplus to be spent on bread, cheese, and drink, and on the church. Apparently any further income from his estate was to be spent on the church and other charitable objects, such as the payment of taxes and subsidies. Further he gave £20 as a parish stock for times of great need. (fn. 458) In 1549 Dr. Thomas Wendy bought the confiscated lands of the Haslingfield chantries and the rent left for the obit, (fn. 459) and by his will proved in 1560 he left 20s. a year from the town house to the poor. (fn. 460) The charity land was the subject of litigation in 1563, (fn. 461) and in 1640 it was decreed that the 20s. from Skelman's obit should be distributed among the poor and that the stock of £20 should be maintained. A finding in 1691 that the feoffees had misused c. £70 gave rise to a decree in 1692 that £20 still in their hands should be set aside in accordance with Skelman's will. In 1766 the charity estate comprised a messuage called the town house and 81 a. in Haslingfield. The rent was £32 in 1783, (fn. 462) and £40 in 1806, (fn. 463) the income being divided between education (fn. 464) and alms for the poor. (fn. 465) At inclosure in 1815 (fn. 466) the charity was allotted 74 a. in the south-east corner of the parish, later known as Charity farm.

In 1834 £32 of the annual rent of £80 was distributed among the settled poor, whether resident or not and without reference to the receipt of relief, and £20 was held in a savings bank in accordance with Skelman's will in 1837, when the use of part of the charity's income for education, (fn. 467) in accordance with the wishes of Earl de la Warr, the curate, and some of the trustees, was opposed by many of the inhabitants, including others of the trustees.

Sir Thomas Wendy, by will proved in 1674, gave a rent-charge of £10 a year for charitable uses at the discretion of the lord of the manor of Scales and the vicar of Haslingfield, half to be spent on the repair of Haslingfield church. (fn. 468) A decree of 1675 transferred this rent-charge and Ertman's gift (fn. 469) to land in the parish of Wendy. The charity was administered with Ertman's educational charity, and in the late 17th century there was evidently some abuse: a decree of c. 1693 provided for the investment or application of £73 10s. that had been misused and £21 in hand, but the endowments were not increased. The rent-charge was payable, according to the decree of 1675, without deduction of tax, but until 1829 it was progressively reduced by land tax to £8. (fn. 470) In 1806 (fn. 471) and 1825 (fn. 472) £4 from Wendy's charity was paid to the poor, and in 1837 £10 was distributed every second year in coal or sometimes in bread and pork, and £5 a year was spent on church repairs.

In 1861 £5 from Wendy's charity with occasional additions from Skelman's was distributed in coal to all but the wealthier inhabitants. From Skelman's £36 was spent on education (fn. 473) and £99 was subject to what was called an indiscriminate distribution, though it was on a graduated scale, of doles 'which in fact amounts to sowing the seeds of pauperism'. In 1862 the town house in the centre of the village was sold and replaced by the new house called Charity Farm in the south-east corner of the parish.

A Charity Commission Scheme of 1864 established one body of trustees for Skelman's, Ertman's, Wendy's, and the Clock Holt charities, (fn. 474) and the charity schools. Proceeds from the sale of timber or minerals were to be treated as capital. One-seventh of the net annual income was to be spent on the church, two-sevenths on the adult poor, and four-sevenths on the schools. (fn. 475)

Coprolites were first excavated on Charity farm in 1869. In 1870 the farm was let for £150 a year, with an additional rent for every acre of coprolites excavated, and by 1873 £1,837 had been received from coprolites. Earl de la Warr thought that the increased income from coprolites necessitated a new Scheme, and in 1872 he put pressure on the trustees to apply for one. In 1875 an Endowed Schools Commission Scheme gave the management of the property to the newly constituted governors of the schools, who were to pay to the trustees appointed under the Scheme of 1864 one-seventh of the whole income for the church, and two-sevenths of the income exclusive of that from coprolites for the poor, education receiving six-sevenths of the income from coprolites and four-sevenths of the remainder. The Endowed Schools Commission encouraged the diversion to education of the poor's share of coprolite income, and there was apparently general dissatisfaction in the parish about the Scheme.

By 1880 £6,161 had been received from coprolites and gravel, of which £1,534 10s. had been spent and the remainder invested in stock. Of the total annual income of £329, £47 went to the church, £52 to the poor, and £230 to education. There was no trace of the £20 held in 1837 as a parish stock under Skelman's will. Income from coprolites ceased in 1887.

The rent of Charity farm had declined to £60 by 1896, when a Charity Commission Order established the church charity and the poor charity as separate charities without dividing the endowments of the combined charities, which possessed £5,386 10s. stock in 1898. In 1899 the combined charities were officially named the Haslingfield United Charities. The rent of Charity farm had increased to £100 by 1919, and it was sold for £1,800 c. 1922. In 1884 the governors of the Haslingfield charities bought a cottage at the south-east corner of the school site with proceeds of coprolites. (fn. 476) The rent, £5 10s. in 1896, was treated as income of the united charities until 1926, when it was decided that the rent belonged to the church charity and the cottage itself to the united charities. The rent was £16 in 1966.

The poor charity distributed £30 in 1965–6, and in 1966 it received £28 from the total net income of the united charities of £186. (fn. 477)