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 By J, CHARLES Cox, 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 BEMROSE & SONS, 10, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS 5 
 
 AND DERBY, 
 

HOW TO WRITE 
 
 THE HISTORY OF A PARISH 
 
HOW TO WRITE 
 
 THE HISTORY OF A PARISH. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. CHARLES COX, 
 
 AITHOR OF "NOTES ON THE CHURCHES OF DERBYSHIRE/' ETC. 
 
 " Every man's concern with the place where he lives, has some- 
 thing more in it than the mere amount of rates and taxes that he 
 has to pay." Toulmin Smith. 
 
 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 BEMROSE & SONS, 10, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS ; 
 
 AND DERBY. 
 
 1879. 
 
c> 
 
 ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. 
 
TO THE 
 
 REV. THOMAS PRESTON NOWELL BAXTER, M.A., 
 (LATE FELLOW OF ST. CATHARINE'S COLL., CAMBRIDGE.) 
 
 RECTOR OF HAWERBY, AND RURAL DEAN, 
 
 WHO FIRST SUGGESTED 
 THE WRITING OF THIS LITTLE HAND-BOOK, 
 
 THESE PAGES 
 ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
 334442 
 
PREFACE 
 
 SOME of the Clergy of the Diocese of Lincoln are 
 responsible for the issue of this booklet. A much- 
 needed county history of Lincolnshire is now being 
 projected, upon the basis of separate parochial 
 histories. A circular put forth in one of the rural 
 deaneries was good enough to refer in laudatory 
 terms to the introduction to the first volume of my 
 Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire. This led to my 
 being asked to re-publish that introduction ; but it 
 applied so peculiarly to Derbyshire that I felt it 
 would be of small avail to those outside the county. 
 Hence I decided to put together some hints that 
 might prove a help to those who may be desirous of 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 undertaking parochial history in any part of the 
 kingdom, whether manorial, ecclesiastical, or both. 
 In the first part of these pages I am indebted to 
 Thomas's "Handbook to the Public Kecords," and 
 more especially to Sims' s invaluable " Manual for 
 the Topographer and Genealogist ;" but I have not 
 referred to any class of documents with which I am 
 not in some measure personally conversant. 
 
 Those who have been engaged in any literary 
 work are well aware how large a portion of time 
 is often spent in merely learning the titles and 
 somewhat of the contents of those books that treat 
 of the different branches of the subject selected. 
 Various books connected with parochial history, 
 especially those that have been proved by experience 
 to be the best hand-books, are therefore mentioned 
 in these pages to facilitate reference. Space only 
 has prevented me from considerably adding both 
 to their number and description, but any further 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 knowledge that I may have gleaned on topographical 
 literature is heartily at the disposal of any worker 
 who may privately apply to me. 
 
 I shall be grateful for any correction of errors, 
 or for any suggestion as to deficiencies. 
 
p 
 
ABBKEVIATIONS. 
 
 P. R. O.-For the Public Record Office. Almost 
 the whole of our national records, which were until 
 recently in upwards of half-a-dozen different build- 
 ings, are now under one roof in Fetter Lane, Fleet 
 Street. All documents mentioned in the following 
 pages must be understood to be at the Public 
 Record Office, unless it is otherwise stated. Several 
 of the earlier folio publications of the Record 
 Commissioners, to which reference is herein made, 
 are out of print, but they are to be found in most 
 of our public libraries. 
 
 B. M. For the Library of the British Museum. 
 
 B. For the Bodleian Library, Oxford. 
 
 C. For the University Library, Cambridge. 
 
HOW TO WRITE THE HISTORY 
 OF A PARISH. 
 
 NOT only should the etymology of the name of the 
 parish be carefully considered, and its various forms 
 of spelling be collected, from Domesday Book down- 
 wards, but a list should be made of the whole of the 
 names of the physical features, such as hills, streams, 
 and lanes, and especially of the field-names. Field- 
 names which will often establish the sites of disused 
 chapels or manor houses, of Celtic burials or Roman 
 roads, as well as help to decide the nationality of the 
 colonists that predominated in the district can be 
 
14 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 sometimes gleaned from old private estate maps, or 
 other exceptional sources, but the " Award" maps 
 of Inclosure Commissioners from 1710 downwards, 
 or the Tithe Commutation maps of 1836, are the 
 chief and most reliable sources. These maps should 
 be in most parish chests, but they have often 
 illegally strayed into the private hands of solicitors, 
 churchwardens, etc. When lost or difficult of access, 
 the original maps can usually be seen at the offices 
 of the Copyhold Inclosure and Tithe Commission, 
 3, St. James's Square, on payment of 2s. 6d.' ; but 
 under certain Acts the originals will be found, or 
 rather ought to be found and to be accessible, at the 
 Clerk of the Peace's office for the county. 
 
 The best hand-books on local etymology are- 
 Taylor's "Words and Places," and Edmund's 
 "Names of Places." Leo on "The Local Nomencla- 
 ture of the Anglo-Saxons," Charnock's "Local 
 Etymology and Derivative Dictionary," and Fergu- 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 15 
 
 son's " River Names," and "Teutonic Name System" 
 
 * & 
 
 may also be consulted with advantage. 
 
 If there are any so-called " Druidical" (almost 
 invariably a complete misnomer) or other " prehis- 
 toric " remains of that class, not a word should be 
 written respecting them until Fergusson's " Rude 
 Stone Monuments'' has been thoroughly digested. 
 Though published in 1872, not one of the old- 
 fashioned antiquaries has made any serious attempt 
 to refute its conclusions. 
 
 The best work on tumuli, or barrows, is Canon 
 Greenwell's " British Barrows." See also Bateman's 
 " Ten Years' Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave 
 Hills." The two last essays of Sir John Lubbock's 
 " Scientific Lectures " give a popular account of 
 
16 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 that branch of prehistoric archaeology which deals 
 with the palaeolithic and neolithic periods, i.e., with 
 the races who respectively used the chipped and 
 ground weapons of stone. 
 
 igtorg of tf) 
 
 THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE, and other Old Eng- 
 lish chronicles, should be consulted for possible early 
 mention of the parish. Most of these have been 
 cheaply printed in an English dress in Bonn's Anti- 
 quarian Series. In Kemble's " Saxons in England " 
 will be found a good list of the old tribal divisions 
 into "marks." Thorpe's Diplomatarium Anglicum Mvi 
 Saxonici is an admirable collection of early charters 
 (with translations) ; some of the wills contain many 
 place-names ; the volume is indifferently indexed. 
 
 THE DOMESDAY BOOK, compiled in 1085-6, is 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 17 
 
 preserved at the Chapter House, WestmiDster. It 
 gives particulars of all the different manors through- 
 out England, excepting those of Northurnherland, 
 Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham. It was 
 printed in two large volumes in 1783, and a third 
 volume of indexes and introductory matter added in 
 1811. A most valuable " General Introduction" was 
 published in 1833, by Sir Henry Ellis. The Ord- 
 nance Survey have recently brought out a fac-simile 
 edition of the Domesday Book, produced by Photo- 
 zincography, which can be obtained in separate 
 counties. The extended text and translation of most 
 counties can also be procured. 
 
 The Book of Exeter and the Book of Ely are of 
 the same date, and no doubt copied from the same 
 returns as Domesday Book itself, but they contain 
 many more details. The former, preserved at Exeter 
 Cathedral, comprises the counties of Wilts, Dorset, 
 Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall ; the latter, now in 
 
18 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 the British Museum, relates to Cambridge, Hertford, 
 Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Huntingdon. The Book 
 of Winchester (Society of Antiquaries) relates to 
 that borough ; it was made in 1148. The Bold on 
 Book is a survey of the county palatinate of Durham, 
 taken in 1183 ; there are three copies, two at Dur- 
 ham, and one at the Bodleian. These four minor 
 Surveys were published by the Eecord Commissioners 
 in one volume in 1816. 
 
 KNIGHT'S FEES. When England was subdivided 
 by the Conqueror among his vassals, the feudal 
 custom of supplying the crown with a certain num- 
 ber of knights was imposed upon them. The 
 number of knights that had to be furnished was 
 specified in the infeoffment. These knights, in their 
 turn, held lands from the immediate tenants of the 
 crown, which were owned by homage, fealty, and a 
 great variety of tenures, as well as by direct pay- 
 ments in money. Some tenures were merely norni- 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 19 
 
 nal, such as a grain of cummin, or a red rose ; others 
 were of more or less value, such as a pair of white 
 gloves, a tuu of wine, a gold spur, or a silver salver ; 
 and others hy such service as holding the lord's 
 stirrup, keeping a pack of hounds, etc., etc. See 
 Blount's " Ancient Tenures." The lands of these 
 knights were termed " Fees," and composed the 
 barony of a crown vassal. A knight's fee was sup- 
 posed to be so much land as would suffice to maintain 
 him, and to enable him to present himself and his 
 retainers ready equipped for the field in times of 
 emergency. Hence a " Knight's Fee," as applied to 
 land, represents no definite quantity, but a variable 
 amount, generally between one and five hundred 
 acres of cultivable land. The term is also some- 
 times used for the rent paid to the lord for the fee. 
 
 It is easy, then, to see that it became essential to 
 the Crown, both for monetary and judicial purposes, 
 as well national as local, to know from time to time 
 
20 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 the exact position of their vassals and sub-vassals. 
 Hence, Inquisitions were held up and down the 
 country before local sworn juries, and the barons 
 made retnrns of that which they held, and which 
 was held under them. These returns are amoug the 
 earliest of our national records ; and though brief, 
 are invaluable, from their absolute authenticity, to 
 the genealogist and local historian. The chief docu- 
 ments of this class are the Black Hook of the 
 Exchequer, temp. Henry II., the original of which is 
 in the P. E. 0., but three manuscript copies are in 
 the B. M., C., and B. respectively, and it was 
 published (but imperfectly, and not from the original) 
 by Hearn, in two vols., 8vo., last century ; the 
 Scutage and the Marshall Rolls, temp., Edw. I. & II., 
 P. E. 0. ; various lists of Tenants in Capite in our 
 different public libraries ; and, most important, the 
 Testa de Neville. The last-mentioned of these docu- 
 ments consists of two ancient volumes compiled 
 
HISTORY OF A PAEISH, 21 
 
 I 
 
 temp. Edw. II,, now in the P. E. 0. They consist 
 of Inquisitions, taken temp. Henry III. and Edw. I., 
 respecting the Fees held immediately or otherwise 
 of the King, throughout the whole of England, 
 excepting the counties of Cambridge, Cheshire, 
 Durham, Lancashire, and Monmouthshire. These 
 records were officially printed in one vol., folio, in 
 1807 ; there are many errors in the spelling of place- 
 names, hut these can for the most part be readily 
 detected by any one having local knowledge. An- 
 other folio volume, printed in 1802, is the Nonaruru 
 Inquisitiones ; it is of some value, and may, perhaps, 
 be fairly included under the head of " Knight's Fees." 
 It consists, in the main, of the finding upon oath 
 by the parishioners, of the value of the ninth lamb, 
 fleece, and sheep, and in cities and boroughs of the 
 ninth of goods and chattels, which by an Act 
 14 Edw. III. were to be levied as a tax for two years 
 towards the expenditure in the Scotch and French 
 
22 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 wars. The rolls abound in the names of jurymen, 
 commissioners, and landowners. The published 
 volume only contains the returns from twenty- seven 
 counties, but the Nona Eolls for most of the missing 
 ones, e.g., Derby, Hertford, Northumberland, and 
 Warwick, have since been found. MS. indexes of 
 these will be found in the small books lettered 
 " Exchequer Subsidies " in the search room of the 
 P. E. 0. 
 
 EOTULI. Under the general head of " Eolls," some 
 of the most important of our national documents 
 have to be briefly considered. 
 
 The Great Eolls of the Exchequer, otherwise called 
 the Pipe Eolls, are all but perfect from 2 Henry II. 
 to the present time ; and there is one roll of 
 31 Henry L, the oldest national document now 
 extant after the Domesday Book. They relate to 
 the revenues of the Crown, digested under the heads 
 of the several counties. They are of much interest 
 
 N. 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 23 
 
 and utility in early pedigrees, and relate to a far 
 wider range of subjects than Crown lauds, as the 
 Crown revenues conie from so great a diversity of 
 sources. The originals are in the P. E. O.,but most 
 of the rolls are in duplicate at the B. M. Several 
 volumes of transcripts are in the B. M. and B. The 
 Eolls for the 31 Henry I. ; 3 John ; 2, 3, and 4, 
 Henry II. ; and 1 Eichard L, have been published 
 by the Eecord Commissioners. 
 
 The Patent Rolls commence with 3 John, and are 
 fairly perfect up to the present time. On them are 
 entered all grants of lands, offices, honours, pensions, 
 and particulars of individual or corporate privileges, 
 etc., etc. These invaluable Eolls are unfortunately 
 not indexed. A folio calendar of those from John to 
 23 Edward IV., was printed in 1802, but it is only 
 a capriciously made selection. Those from the 3rd 
 to 18th John have since been printed in full, with an 
 admirable introduction. In the B. M. are many 
 
24 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 volumes of selections and extracts for particular 
 periods. Manorial grants of " free warren" in these 
 rolls will often supply a missing link in the 
 history of a manor. 
 
 The difference between the documents entered on 
 the Close Rolls, and the Patent Rolls, is that royal 
 letters patent were delivered open, with the Great 
 Seal appended, and were supposed to be of a public 
 nature and addressed to all the king's subjects ; 
 whilst the Close Eolls contain entries of such instru- 
 ments as were despatched closed or sealed up, and 
 were of a more private nature. These rolls begin in 
 1204. From that time to 11 Henry III., they have 
 been printed in full in two folio volumes. There are 
 various copies and transcripts of particular parts in 
 the B.M., B., and C., and in the libraries of Lincoln's 
 Inn and Inner Temple. The rolls are of infinite variety 
 and importance. Among the subjects treated of are- 
 Royal Prerogatives, Homage, Fealty, Knight's Ser- 
 
 "s. 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 25 
 
 vice, Treasure Trove, Gold and Silver Mining, Bail 
 and Pardons, Livery of Lands, Assignment of 
 Dowers, Wardship of Minors, Repairs of Bridges, 
 etc., etc. They often, therefore, contain unexpected 
 fragments of local history connected with apparently 
 insignificant parishes, and are even more fruitful 
 than the better known Patent Rolls. 
 
 The Charter Rolls contain a good deal of duplicate 
 matter to that on the Patent Rolls. They chiefly 
 consist of grants of privileges to religious houses, 
 cities, and towns, and grants of markets, fairs, and 
 free warren to individuals. Charters, like Letters 
 Patent, passed under the Great Seal ; but a charter 
 differed from a patent inasmuch as the former was 
 witnessed by the council or by such persons as were 
 present at its execution, and the latter was solely 
 executed by the king. The Charter Roils extend 
 from 1199 to 1483. A complete calendar of these 
 rolls, well indexed, was published in 1803, and the 
 
26 HOW TO WHITE THE 
 
 rolls themselves of the reign of John, were also 
 published by the Record Commissioners in 1837. 
 
 The Fine Piolls contain accounts of fines paid to 
 the Crown for licenses to alienate lands, for freedom 
 from knight service, or being knighted, for renewals 
 of various charters, etc., etc. They begin in the 
 time of Richard I. The Fine Rolls of John, and 
 extracts from those of Henry III,, have been pub- 
 lished by the Commissioners in three 8vo. volumes. 
 They are to be distinguished from the important 
 Pedes Finiwn, subsequently explained. 
 
 The Originalia are described in the Public Records 
 Report as " the Estreats transmitted from the Court 
 of Chancery into this (Exchequer) office, of all grants 
 of the Crown inrolled on the Patent and other Rolls, 
 whereon any rent is reserved, any salary payable, or 
 any service performed." These rolls commence early 
 in the reign of Henry III. An abstract, in two 
 folio volumes, of the Originalia from 20 Henry III. 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 27 
 
 to the end of Edward III., was published by the 
 Commissioners in 1805. Similar abstracts from 
 1 Richard II., to end of James II., were prepared 
 for printing, but never published ; the MS. of this 
 work is in the B. M. An index to the Originalia was 
 published in 1793, by Mr. Edward Jones, in two 
 folio volumes. Those who have had occasion to use 
 Mr. Jones's index know that the judgment " very 
 useful, but very imperfect," is true in each particular. 
 The Hundred Rolls will often prove to be of the 
 greatest interest for one period of manorial history. 
 During the turbulent reign of Henry III., the Crown 
 revenues had been much diminished by the Tenants 
 in Capite alienating lands without license, and by 
 powerful ecclesiastics and laymen usurping the rights 
 of holding courts, and committing other encroach- 
 ments. The people, too, had been greatly oppressed 
 by exactions and oppressions at the hands of sheriffs 
 and other officers, and by false claims to free warren 
 
28 HOW TO WHITE THE 
 
 and illegal tolls. One of the first acts of Edward I., 
 on his return from the Holy Land, at his father's 
 death, was to remedy these ahuses. The circuit of 
 the itinerant justices was only usually made once in 
 seven years, therefore the king appointed Special 
 Commissioners for inquiring into these grievances 
 throughout the realm. These rolls are the result of 
 the inquisitions taken in pursuance of this commis- 
 sion. They afford evidence, upon the oath of a jury 
 of each hundred and town of all demesne lauds and 
 manors then or formerly in the hands of the Crown- 
 all tenants in capite and tenants in ancient demesne 
 alienations to the Church rights of free warren, 
 fisheries, etc. oppressions of nobility and clergy- 
 exactions of excessive toll unlawful trading en- 
 croachments 011 highways, etc., etc. The whole of 
 these rolls were published by the Record Commis- 
 sioners in 1812-18, in two large folio volumes, but 
 are not now to be purchased. " The genealogist 
 
HISTORY OF A PAEISH. 29 
 
 may estimate the assistance these volumes are 
 capable of affording, when it is mentioned that the 
 Indices of Names contain references to about 70,000 
 persons." The mis-spelling of place-names is some- 
 times a little misleading, but ordinary care will rectify 
 this, as the returns are arranged in counties. The 
 rolls, as printed, may be fairly relied on for historical 
 purposes, without the trouble of collating the 
 originals. 
 
 PLACITA. The pleadings of our several courts, 
 with the judgments thereon, have been for many 
 centuries entered on rolls. The greater part of these 
 are termed Placita, or pleading Kolls. Their impor- 
 tant bearing on manorial history is obvious. There 
 is scarcely a manor in the kingdom, that had not 
 occasion, on an average of at least once a century, 
 to put in an appearance in one or other of the courts 
 on some matter involving litigation. 
 
 Under our Norman kings, all pleadings were origi- 
 
80 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 nally heard Aula she Curia Regis, in the hall or 
 court of the king's palace. In aid of the King's 
 Court, itinerant justices were first appointed temp. 
 Henry I., and were finally established 22 Henry II. 
 Towards the end of the reign of Richard I., the Curia 
 Regis was subdivided into courts of Exchequer and 
 Chancery, whilst the king's court still retained pleas 
 immediately touching the Crown, and also common 
 pleas, both civil and criminal. The Magna Charta, 
 17 John, separated the Common Pleas from the 
 royal court, after which the 'Curia Regis continued 
 to be the superior court of law for criminal matters, 
 and early in the reign of Edward I. lost its more 
 ancient title and became known as the Court of 
 King's Bench. 
 
 The Rotuli Curia Regis have been printed in full, 
 from 6 Richard I. to 1 John, by the Record Com- 
 missioners, in two 8vo. volumes. The same rolls, in 
 addition to those of the King's Bench, down to the 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 31 
 
 end of the reign of Edward II., were, in 1811, 
 elaborately calendared and indexed by the Commis- 
 sioners in a valuable folio volume, under the title 
 -Placitorum in Domo Capitulari W estmonasteriensi 
 assert' atorum Abbreviatio, but the rolls are now in the 
 P. E. 0. The abstract has been made after a fickle 
 fashion, some pleadings are given in full, whilst 
 many others of more importance are condensed into 
 a couple of lines ; and there is nothing in the volume 
 to tell the student whether they are abbreviated or 
 not. 
 
 The earliest provincial courts were those of the 
 Itinerant Justices, or Justices in Eyre (from the 
 Norman-French word erre, a journey) ; they held 
 criminal and common pleas, and also pleas of the 
 forest. These justices afterwards gave way to Circuit 
 Judges, and the Justices in Eyre then became only 
 another name for the Justices of the Forest. If there 
 is or has been any royal Forest or Chace within the 
 
32 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 parish under consideration, special search should be 
 made for its records. Most of the early proceedings 
 relative to forests are entered on the Patent Bolls ; 
 a considerable number of the ancient perambulations 
 and inquisitions have been printed in various reports 
 made at different dates. Copies of these reports, 
 bound in two large volumes, can be consulted at the 
 P. E. 0. Extracts from the rolls, relative to the 
 forests, for special periods may be found both at the 
 P. E. 0. and the B. M. The forest perambulations for 
 the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. have been 
 completely indexed. 
 
 Those rolls that may properly be termed Records 
 of Assize commence 6 Eichard I., and end with the 
 reign of Edward IV. In the B. M. are many MS. 
 volumes of Placita Itinerum pertaining to different 
 reigns and different counties. 
 
 In 1818 the Eecord Commissioners published an 
 important folio volume, entitled Placita de Quo War- 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 33 
 
 ranto teuiporibiis Ed a: /., //., III., which forms an 
 interesting sequel to the Hundred Kolls. The Hun- 
 dred Bolls, as already mentioned, gave a great mass 
 of sworn information as to abuses. Those persons 
 thus charged were summoned to answer " Q'io 
 Warranto " such and such things were done or left 
 undone '? or by what right such and such manors, 
 etc., were held? This volume contains a full tran- 
 script of the roll of the pleadings in answer to these 
 summonses, and the judgments thereon. Its utility 
 in manorial history cannot be exaggerated, as the 
 descent of the manor is often traced back in these 
 pleadings to the time of John or even earlier. The 
 rolls are arranged under counties, and include the 
 whole of England, with the exception of the palatinate 
 of Durham. 
 
 The earliest records of the Court of Chancery are 
 of the 17th year of Richard II., the previous docu- 
 ments having been destroyed in the "Wat Tyler 
 
84 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 rebellion. There are no petitions extant to the 
 Chancellor of the reign of Henry IV., and hut few 
 of Henry V., but from the beginning of the reign of 
 Henry VI. they seem to have been kept with much 
 regularity. Calendars of the Chancery proceedings 
 of the reign of Elizabeth were published in three 
 volumes folio, 1827-32. In the introduction to this 
 work are many examples of the earlier proceedings 
 of that court from Richard II. downwards. It is 
 hardly necessary to add that the bills of complaint, 
 and their answers, filed in this court, often contain 
 abundant information as to manorial descent. 
 Numerous MS. volumes of indexes to Chancery 
 proceedings are at the service of the searcher in the 
 P. R. 0. 
 
 The volumes known as the Year Books contain 
 reports in Norman -French of cases argued and 
 decided in the Courts of Common Law. They form 
 the basis of the " lex non scripta" of English juris- 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 85 
 
 prudence, and are worthy of attention on account of 
 the historical information and the notices of public 
 and private persons which they contain. The fre- 
 quent disputes about heirship cause them often to be 
 of value in manorial history. These Reports begin 
 in 1220, and an account of the different books, their 
 dates, etc., may be found in Worrall's " Bibliotlieca 
 Legum Anglice" 1788. Serjeant Maynard published 
 an edition of early Year Books, in eleven volumes, 
 in 1679. Several of those of the reign of Edward I. 
 have been edited by the Record Commissioners. 
 Lincoln's Inn Library, and the University Library, 
 Cambridge, have a great number of MS. Year Books. 
 A work of much research, by Mr. Bigelow, has just 
 been published, entitled " Placita Anglo-Normannica" 
 it is a history of the litigation and legal procedure 
 of the temporal courts during the period from the 
 Norman Conquest to the middle of the reign of 
 Richard I. If there has been any early dispute 
 
86 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 about the manor or manorial rights, this volume 
 should certainly be consulted. 
 
 INQUISITIONES. Inquisitiones post mortem, are not 
 unfrequently termed " Escheats," from the writs 
 being directed to the county official called the 
 Escheator ; but the term is incorrect, and should 
 never be used, for there is a class of documents 
 correctly called Escheat Rolls, which differ altogether 
 from these inquisitions, and refer to the escheator's 
 accounts of lands and property escheated to the 
 crown from various causes, and the profits and 
 value of the same at different periods. The In,qui- 
 sitio post mortem, on the contrary, was an inquiry 
 held on oath by a jury of the district, summoned 
 by virtue of a writ directed to the county Escheator, 
 on the death of every tenant in capite. The jury 
 had to inquire (1) of what lands the person died 
 seized, (2) by what rents or services the same were 
 held, and (3) who was his next heir and of what 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 37 
 
 a^e ; they had also to ascertain whether the tenant 
 
 / 
 
 was attainted of treason, or an alien, in which case 
 the lauds reverted to the crown. The return of the 
 jury, together with the writ authorising the inquiry, 
 were returned to the King's Chancery, whence a 
 transcript was sent to the Exchequer, so that the 
 proper officers might he ahle to levy the duties and 
 services thereupon due ; for on the death of each 
 tenant in capite, a tax termed a " relief " was due to 
 the crown, and the heir could not take possession 
 until the relief was paid and homage done. More- 
 over, if the heir was a minor, the crown adminis- 
 tered the estates until he could make proof of his 
 legal age and perform homage. The Exchequer 
 transcripts of these Inquisitions, together in most 
 cases with the writ, are still extant from the time 
 of Henry III. down to the end of the reign of 
 Charles I., that is, until the feudal land system was 
 finally overthrown. Calendars, or short abstracts of 
 
38 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 these Inquisitions, carefully indexed, have been 
 printed in four folio volumes by the Eecord Com- 
 missioners, 1806 1828, up to the end of the reign 
 of Bichard III. These calendars, which are invalu- 
 able for reference, must be used with caution, and 
 should never be quoted as proving the death of any 
 person by a particular date, for unfortunately not a 
 few inquisitions that are not post mortem, but ad 
 quod damnum, are included amongst them. There 
 are also many errors in nomenclature, and in assign- 
 ing manors to special counties ; it is therefore wisest 
 to make the rule of never quoting these inquisitions, 
 unless the original has been seen, or a full tran- 
 script obtained. The inquisitions subsequent to the 
 time of Bichard III. have not been calendared. Pri- 
 vate enterprise has more than once announced that 
 such a work would be taken in hand, and subscribers 
 names obtained, but up to the present time (1879) 
 there seems no immediate prospect of publication. 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 39 
 
 The Eecord Commissioners have also published 
 a Calendar to the Inquisitions of this class, per- 
 tainiDg to the Duchy of Lancaster, from the time of 
 Edward I. to Charles T. 
 
 Extracts and abstracts from these Inquisitions, 
 covering particular periods, or for particular coun- 
 ties, are numerous in our public libraries ; for lists 
 of such MSS., see Sims' Manual, pp. 125-8. 
 
 Another form of inquisition was the Inqiiisitio 
 ad quod damnum, which was a judicial inquiry, held 
 by virtue of a writ directed to the Escheator of the 
 county, when any license of alienation of lands, or 
 grant of a market, fair, or other privilege was 
 solicited. A local jury was sworn to inquire whether 
 if the claim was granted it would interfere with any 
 vested right, or be to the detriment of the crown or 
 some of its subjects hence the name ad quod dam- 
 num. These inquisitions, especially with relation to 
 alienating lands to religious houses, are often very 
 
40 HOW TO WHITE THE 
 
 valuable to the local historian, for the jury in such 
 cases had to state the amount, value, and nature of 
 the remainder of the lands of the intended donor. 
 A. calendar of these records from 1 Edward II. to 
 38 Henry VI., was officially published in 1803, and 
 is bound up with the previously mentioned calendar 
 of the Charter Rolls. It should be remembered, 
 as already stated, that many inquisitions ad quod 
 damnum, particularly the earlier ones, are wrongly 
 catalogued and arranged among the post mortem 
 inquests. 
 
 PEDES FINIUM. The Pedes Finium, or " Feet of 
 Fines," must be clearly distinguished from the pre- 
 viously mentioned Fine Bolls, which are quite a 
 different class of record. The Fine here signified is 
 no mulct of monev, but is so called because it 
 
 / ' 
 
 is the final agreement between persons concerning 
 any lands or rents or other matters whereof there 
 is any suit between them. The fine, or solemn 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 41 
 
 contract recorded before a competent judge, is 
 described as having five parts (1) the original writ 
 taken out against the coguisor, (2) the license of 
 the crown giving the parties liberty to accord, (3) 
 the concord itself, (4) the note of the fine, which is 
 an abstract of the original concord, and (o) the font 
 of the fine, which always began thus " Hasc estji'".i/ix 
 concordia facta in curia Dora. Regis apud Westm ' 
 etc. This foot of the fine, which was the official 
 summary of the concord, was cut off in an indented 
 line (hence the word indenture), so as to tally with 
 the part delivered to the suitor and prove its authen- 
 ticity, and retained by the court. There is no class 
 of documents that has been so continuously preserved 
 in uninterrupted succession as these Feet of Fines. 
 No manorial historv can be considered satisfactory 
 
 */ / 
 
 uotil these records have been carefully consulted, 
 for they contain the proceedings which have been 
 adopted to convey estates, as well as to free them 
 
42 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 from their entailment to issue, or from the dower of 
 wives. The earliest of these documents, viz., from 
 7 Kichard I. to 16 John, have been officially pub- 
 lished in two 8vo. volumes, under the title " Fines, 
 sive Pedes Finium ; sive Finales Concordice in Curia 
 Domini Piegis." 
 
 Having thus run through the chief classes of 
 documents bearing, with more or less directness, 
 on manorial history, it may be added that further 
 information should be sought in Mr. Thomas' 
 " Handbook to the Public Records." It may also 
 be well to mention, that those who require accurate 
 transcripts of any of the records in Fetter Lane, 
 need not apply for officially certified copies ; for 
 reliable transcribers can readily be met with who 
 will do the work for less than half the sum required 
 for certified copies. If the amateur searcher does 
 not know any transcribers, the courteous gentlemen 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 43 
 
 in charge of the Search Eoom will probably make 
 no difficulty ahout giving their address. 
 
 Those who may be desirous of gaining some know- 
 ledge of the character or handwriting of ancient 
 records, which can only be efficiently learnt by prac- 
 tice, are recommended to consult Wright's " Court 
 Hand Restored." It not only gives numerous alpha- 
 bets and plates, illustrative of the different styles in 
 vogue at different periods, but has valuable lists of 
 abbreviations, of ancient place-names, and of debased 
 Latin words that are only to be found in legal or 
 monastic documents. Each of the earlier reigns 
 appears to have had a set or uniform character of 
 its own ; but in the reign of Elizabeth and subse- 
 quently, this clerical mode seems to have been to a 
 great extent abandoned, and each scribe to have 
 written after his own fancy. It is hence very notice- 
 able that, as was remarked by a late keeper of the 
 Records, " the English records of the 16th and 17th 
 
44 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 centuries are in general more difficult to be read 
 than the Latin records of preceding ages." 
 
 Ctfcfl or fBomegtt'c 
 
 Any British, Roman, Danish, or Anglo-Saxon 
 remains that there may be in the parish, had, per- 
 haps, better be described before the manorial history 
 is given. Every earthwork, mound, or ancient road- 
 way should be carefully noted. It is not possible to 
 refer to any one, or even three or four, satisfactory 
 books on such subjects. Fosbrooke's "Encyclopaedia 
 of Antiquities ' is out of date, but we know of no 
 better compendious work of reference. The two 
 volumes of Wright's " Essays on Archaeological Sub- 
 jects," will be found of much general use. Worsae's 
 " Primeval Antiquities of Denmark," translated and 
 applied to the illustration of similar remains in 
 
HISTORY OF A. PARISH. 45 
 
 England, by W. J. Thorns, may be read with advan- 
 tage, but with the recollection that the hard and fast 
 " ages ' of Danish antiquaries are, with greater 
 knowledge, becoming exploded. 
 
 But all description of civil or domestic architec- 
 ture, of the Norman or subsequent periods, should 
 be deferred until after the history of the manor has 
 been written, because that history will very likely 
 throw light on any such architectural remains. 
 
 If there is a castle, or its relics, within the parish, 
 the probability is considerable that it has already 
 been well described by a county historian, or in one 
 or other of the numerous journals of our Archae- 
 ological societies. But it is equally probable that its 
 history has not been thoroughly written, and special 
 search should be made with that object at the 
 P. K. 0., beginning with the indexes to the printed 
 calendars already enumerated. There is no one 
 efficient volume treating of our medieval castles that 
 
40 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 corresponds with Viollet-le-Duc's "Military Archi- 
 tecture of the Middle Ages," but a translation of this 
 French work has been published by Parker, and it 
 would be well to read either that or the original. 
 
 Every effort should be made to identify the old 
 manor house, or its site (often marked by a grass 
 grown moat), and this should of course be done with 
 each manor, where, as is usually the case, the parish 
 has contained more than one. Oral tradition, in 
 this as in other particulars, will often be found a 
 useful handmaid. Should the exterior of the re- 
 puted manor-house be altogether unpromising, that 
 should not check further investigation. Several in- 
 stances are known to us in which modern brick casing 
 or sash windows are but a scresn to some of the old- 
 est domestic architecture extant, which may be found 
 in the back premises or outbuildings, or contain fine 
 old chimney-pieces, carved oak panelling, or ceilings 
 of elaborate pargetting. Nor should attention be 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 47 
 
 only directed to manor-houses. All old domestic 
 work is worth chronicling, so rapidly is it disappear- 
 ing both in town and country ; and the annalist of a 
 parish should not be above transcribing all the 
 initials and dates so frequently seen on lintel stones. 
 As a rule, every house or cottage, not obviously 
 modern, that has stone buttresses, a moulded wall- 
 plate or string-course, or bevelled stone rnullions to 
 the windows, is worthy of careful examination. 
 Many interesting details, such as the site of chantry- 
 houses, may be thus brought to light, and the history 
 in stone, and the history on parchment, be found to 
 tally in unexpected ways. 
 
 Domestic architecture should alwavs be described 
 
 / 
 
 by the century, and not by the " periods >; into which 
 ecclesiastical architecture is usually divided. The 
 only book worth purchasing on the subject, is the 
 somewhat costly but admirable four volume edition 
 of Parker's " Mediaeval Domestic Architecture. " For 
 
48 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 the general " History of Architecture," hoth civil and 
 religious, of all ages and countries, nothing can 
 s-urpass Fergusson's last edition in four volumes, 
 published by Murray in 1874. 
 
 The pedigrees and brief particulars of the NOBILITY 
 can be readily found. The most useful standard 
 
 * 
 
 works are Dugdale's '" Baronage," Collins' "Peerage 
 and Baronetage," Banks' " Dormant and Extinct 
 Baronage," and the " Baronagium Genealogicum," 
 or pedigrees of English Peers, in five folio volumes, 
 by Joseph Edmondson. Burke's " Lauded Gentry " 
 gives much information with respect to the principal 
 families of commoners, but the earlier genealogical 
 statements that he prints are often purely mythical. 
 Several indexes to the many thousands of printed 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 49 
 
 pedigrees that are scattered up and down in topo- 
 graphical and other works have been published, of a' 
 more or less faulty and incomplete description, but a 
 work of this class, now (1879) in the press, entitled 
 " The Genealogist's Guide," by Mr. George W. 
 Marshall, promises to be all that can be desired. 
 
 But a large portion of family history and pedigree, 
 which will often be essential to the elucidation of the 
 monumental history of a parish, to completing the 
 links in lists of the lords of the manor, or furnishing 
 particulars with regard to smaller landholders, yet 
 remains in MS. The most accurate of such MSS. 
 are at the College of Arms, and are not ordinarily 
 accessible except on payment of fees ; but there is a 
 fine collection of heraldic visitations at the B. M. , the 
 chief of which are among the Harleian MSS. 
 
 HERALDS' VISITATIONS are said to have commenced 
 in the reign of Henry IV., but it was not until 
 20 Henry VIII. that a commission proceeding from 
 
50 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 royal authority was issued. From tlien uniil tlie 
 latter half of the seventeenth century, visitations 
 were made every twenty-five or thirty years. The 
 register books, kept by the heralds and their assis- 
 tants, contain the pedigrees and arms of the gentry 
 of the respective counties, and are often also illus- 
 trated by copies and excerpts from charters and 
 private documents. Many of these books are lost, 
 and the rest scattered throughout public and private 
 libraries. The archives of the College of Arms have 
 the most important collection, and next comes the 
 B. M. There are a large number at theB., fifty-four 
 volumes iu the library of Gains College, Cambridge, 
 and forty in that of the Queen's College, Oxford. 
 The earliest heralds' registers for the counties of 
 Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucester, Hampshire, Kent, 
 Notts, Oxford, Surrey, Sussex, Wilts, Worcester, 
 and Yorks, are of the year 1530 ; for Berks, Devon, 
 and Somerset, 1531 ; for Cheshire and Lancashire, 
 
HISTOKY OF A PAEISH. 51 
 
 1533 ; for Essex and Herts, 1552 ; for Suffolk, 
 1561 ; for Lincoln, 1562 ; for Leicester, Norfolk, 
 Stafford, and Warwick, 1563 ; for Hunts, and North- 
 ampton, 1564 ; for Beds, and Bucks, 1566 ; for 
 Derby, Hereford, and Salop, 1569 ; for Middlesex, 
 1572; for Cambridge, Durham, and Northumber- 
 land, 1575 ; for Cumberland and Westmoreland, 
 1615 ; and for Kutland, 1618. The last visitation 
 of several counties was taken in 1634, but the ma- 
 jority w^ere visited in 1662 4; and the last of all 
 was that of the county of Southampton, made by Sir 
 Henry St. George, in 1686. The general genealogist 
 and antiquary cannot but long for the issue of 
 another royal commission, whereby the heralds might 
 be empowered, as of old, to destroy all false and self- 
 assumed arms, whether on carriages, plate, or 
 monuments. 
 
 Sims' " Index to the Pedigrees and Arms "' con- 
 tained in the Heralds' Visitations in the B. M., is 
 
52 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 an accurate and useful book of reference. The 
 " Manual for the Topographer and Genealogist," by 
 the same gentleman, is quite indispensable. Careful 
 lists of family histories, of all the principal topo- 
 graphical works, and of all MSS. of worth hi public 
 libraries, are therein classified under the different 
 counties. 
 
 WILLS are too obvious a source of information to 
 need a word of comment. At Somerset House is 
 the most important and largest collection, viz., those 
 of the province of Canterbury. The original wills in 
 this office begin in 1404, and the transcripts in 1383. 
 They are complete only from December, 1G60. In 
 the office at York, for that province, the wills begin 
 in 1590, and the transcripts in 1389. Owing to the 
 probate privileges enjoyed by the various ecclesi- 
 astical courts, there were not only registries for wills 
 in every diocese, but numerous peculiar and exempt 
 jurisdictions in each diocese. The dates at which 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 53 
 
 wills begin in the different minor registries are so 
 very varied, and their condition and facilities, or even 
 possibilities, of search so multifarious, that it is 
 impossible to give any useful abstract. The Report 
 on Public Records for 1837, and Sir Harris Nicolas' 
 " Notitia Historica," should be consulted. The 
 power of probate was taken away from the ecclesi- 
 astical courts by the Act of 1857. 
 
 The little-known RECUSANT ROLLS of the time of 
 Elizabeth, give information as to the humblest as 
 well as the wealthiest parishioner who refused to 
 attend the services of the Established Church. 
 These, and many other similar class of documents, 
 relative to the fining and other grievous penalties 
 attached to profession of the Roman Catholic faith, 
 extending up to a recent date, are to be found at 
 the P. R. 0. 
 
 Records of ATTAINDERS, FORFEITURES, SEQUESTRA- 
 TIONS, and PARDONS, some from the time of Edward 
 
54 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 II., will also be found at the same office, and may be 
 consulted with advantage by those tracing personal 
 history, if there is any cause to suspect their com- 
 plicity in any of the multitude of baronial feuds, 
 rebellions, or religious persecutions that led to the 
 existence of so large a class of offenders. Sims' 
 " Manual " should be consulted for exhaustive lists of 
 this class of documents, as well as for numerous lists 
 of GENTRY and FREEHOLDERS of different dates, per- 
 taining to their respective counties. 
 
 MUSTER ROLLS, which give the names, rank, dwel- 
 ling, and often other particulars, of those able to 
 bear arms in each county, may be of interest to the 
 local historian. The earliest of these returns, now 
 at the P. E. 0., are of the reign of Henry III. ; there 
 are great deficiencies up to the time of Henry VIII. , 
 but from that reign to the time of Charles II., they 
 are very voluminous. Lists of SHERIFFS, MEMBERS 
 OF PARLIAMENT, and MAYORS OF BOROUGHS, have 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 55 
 
 been printed for almost every county from an early 
 date, and can readily be found at public libraries. 
 Tbe names of lords of the manor, or other individuals 
 connected with the special parish treated of, should 
 always be collated with such lists, in order to see if 
 they held any of these important offices. 
 
 COUNTY RECORDS. The various documents that 
 are or ought to be in charge of the Clerk of the 
 Peace, relative to all the multifarious business trans- 
 acted at Quarter Sessions, contain much that is of 
 value relative to personal or local history. But it 
 would only be tantalising to enumerate the different 
 class of records that should be in the custody of the 
 county officials, for in the great majority of cases 
 they are in so much confusion as to be practically 
 useless for any literary purpose. Among the excep- 
 tions may be mentioned Leicestershire and Derby- 
 shire, in the latter of which counties they have been 
 recently admirably arranged ; and also, to a certain 
 
56 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 * 
 
 extent, Devonshire, the salient points of whose 
 records have lately been published see " Quarter 
 Sessions from Queen Elizabeth to Queen Anne," by 
 A. H. Hamilton, a volume that aptly illustrates local 
 government, and which is useful as showing the 
 class of information that may be gleaned from such 
 documents. They do not, as a rule, extend further 
 back than the time of Elizabeth. 
 
 BOROUGH EECORDS. These are in many instances 
 of great antiquity ; some charters going back to the 
 time of John. But their condition and value are 
 much varied, and there is no trustworthy general 
 report. It is hoped that a " Borough Eecords 
 Society " will soon be formed for the publication of 
 our Municipal Archives. 
 
 In the six Keports already issued by the Historical 
 Manuscripts Commission the Archives of the follow- 
 ing English boroughs have been reported OE :- 
 Abingdon, Axbridge, Berwick-on-Tweed, Bridgewater, 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 57 
 
 Bridport, Cambridge, Coventry, Dartmouth, Faver- 
 sham, Folkestone, Fordwich, High Wycombe, Hythe, 
 Kingston-ou-Tharnes, Launceston, Lydd, Morpeth, 
 New Romney, Norwich, Nottingham, Rye, St. Alban?, 
 Sandwich, Teuterden, Totnes, Wallingford, Wells, 
 Weymouth, Winchester, and York. 
 
 The Report of the Municipal Corporation Commis- 
 sioners, 1835, gives certain information, more or less 
 meagre, of all boroughs. See also Merewether and 
 Stephen's " History of the Boroughs and Municipal 
 Corporations of the United Kingdom." 
 
 Under the head of WORTHIES it may be worth 
 while to consider whether the parish has ever had 
 amongst its residents, or on its baptismal registers, 
 the names of men of marked celebrity in any walk of 
 life. Nuttall's edition of Fuller's " Worthies of Eng- 
 land," published in 1840, in three vols. 8vo., Wood's 
 "Athense," and any good Biographical Dictionaries 
 (e.g. Chalmers'), should be consulted. 
 
58 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 Foremost under this head come PAEISH REGISTEES. 
 Burn's " History of Parish Registers in England " is 
 the standard work on this subject. The first man- 
 date for keeping registers of baptisms, marriages, 
 and burials, in each parish was issued in 1538, but 
 it is quite the exception to find registers of this early 
 date. This mandate was repeated in more rigorous 
 terms on the accession of Elizabeth, 1558, but not 
 being regularly observed, it was ordained in 1597 
 that parchment register books should be purchased 
 at the expense of each parish, and that all the names 
 from the older books (mostly of paper) should be 
 therein transcribed from 1558; hence it happens 
 that so many parish registers begin with that year. 
 It was at the same time ordered that copies of the 
 registers should be annually forwarded to the epis- 
 copal registrar, to be preserved in the episcopal 
 
HISTORY OF A PAEISH. 59 
 
 archives. This injunction, however, was so imper- 
 fectly carried out, and the duplicates when forwarded 
 were so carelessly kept, that the diocesan copies of 
 registers are mere fragments of what they should be, 
 and are in several cases still in such confusion as to 
 be practically inaccessible. The earliest transcripts 
 at Lincoln begin in 1587, and at Gloucester in 1571, 
 but there are few dioceses that have any earlier than 
 
 1660. 
 
 Many parishes have lost their early registers, and 
 they are usually deficient or wanting during the 
 Commonwealth. Official inquiries were made of all 
 the clergy in 1831, as to the exact date, condition, 
 and number of the parish registers in their custody, 
 and abstracts of their replies w r ere published in a 
 Blue Book in 1833. But it is not generally known 
 that the returns themselves, often containing more 
 information than was printed, are at the British 
 Museum (Add. MSS. 9,335, etc.). The dates there 
 
GO HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 given are not, however, to be implicitly relied upon, 
 as unfortunately some registers have been lost or 
 stolen since that date, whilst others of an earlier 
 date have happily, in some cases, been restored or 
 discovered in the like period. 
 
 Registers should be carefully looked through, not 
 only for the purpose of extracting the names of 
 prominent or interesting families, but also for the 
 purpose of gleaning the innumerable little scraps of 
 local information that were not unfrequeutly inter- 
 polated in the earlier pages, such as notes pertaining 
 to excommunication, licenses for eating flesh in Lent, 
 penance, remarkable or eccentric characters, storms, 
 and weather observations, inventories of church 
 goods, visitations of the plague or sweating sickness, 
 national events, etc., etc. 
 
 Many of the clergy and others find a difficulty in 
 reading the earlier registers. Reference has already 
 been made to Wright's " Court-Hand Restored," but 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 61 
 
 the greatest help iu deciphering them will he the 
 recollection that most of the letters of the ordinary 
 hand of Elizaheth and the Stuarts, which differ from 
 those now in use, are the same as those of the present 
 German written characters, e.g., the letters u h' 
 and "r." A few days' steady practice in trans- 
 cribing old writing, beginning with the letters and 
 words that can easily be read, ought to be sufficient 
 to master the stiffest hands in parochial records. 
 
 In case there are any old Meeting Houses, or con- 
 gregations of Independents, Presbyterians, Quakers, 
 or other nonconformists in the parish, it will be well, 
 with regard to these registers, to consult a Blue 
 Book issued in 1841, called " Lists of Non-parochial 
 Registers and Records in the custody of the Regis- 
 trar-General," wherein a county classification is 
 observed; also a "Report on Non-parochial Regis- 
 ters, "issued in 1857, wherein are enumerated those 
 registers of the sects that were still in private custody. 
 
62 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 CHURCHWARDENS' ACCOUNTS, giving particulars of 
 rates, receipts, and payments for church purposes, 
 are often highly interesting, and should be carefully 
 preserved. Sometimes they are found entered in 
 bound volumes, but more often tied up in bundles or 
 tumbled in confusion in the parish chest. Still more 
 often they are altogether missing. They can occa- 
 sionally be recovered from the private dwellings of 
 present or past churchwardens. The earliest with 
 which we are acquainted, are those of All Saints', 
 Derby, which begin in 1465, but they rarely are 
 found prior to the Restoration. 
 
 The CONSTABLES ACCOUNTS, and the ACCOUNTS OF 
 THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR, will also sometimes be 
 met with, beginning from a comparatively remote 
 date, and will amply repay close attention. They 
 
 throw a similar light on the secular historv of a 
 
 i 
 
 parish to that thrown on the religious history by the 
 Churchwardens' Accounts. The thorough overhaul- 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 63 
 
 ing of the parish chest, or other receptacles of parish 
 papers, and the classification of their contents is 
 strongly recommended, even where it seems to be 
 most unpromising of results. There is no reason 
 why even such apparently trivial things as the 
 indentures of parish apprentices (which have the 
 seals and signatures of Justices of the Peace), should 
 not be preserved, neatly arranged, and docketted. 
 Every scrap of paper of past generations, showing 
 the inner working of parochial life, possesses some 
 interest of its own ; and future generations will 
 thank us for their preservation. Moreover, a careful 
 arrangement of parish papers often meets with more 
 immediate reward. We have ourselves found miss- 
 ing portions of 16th century registers, highly inte- 
 resting deeds as early as the 14th century, royal 
 proclamations and special forms of prayer, temp. 
 Elizabeth and James I., in parochial litter put aside 
 as valueless. 
 
64 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 Of what can be gleaned from these parish annals 
 when tolerably perfect, we may be permitted to quote 
 that which we have elsewhere written respecting the 
 records of Youlgreave, a Derbyshire village, that 
 have recently been classified with some care : 
 
 " The future historian of this parish will find a 
 vast stock of material ready to hand ; and if such a 
 work was ever accomplished it would once more be 
 seen how the history of even a remote village is but 
 the history of the nation in little ; how national 
 victories were announced on the church bells, and 
 national disasters by the proclamation of a form of 
 prayer ; how local self-governmeot became gradually 
 developed in the office of justice, constable, and over- 
 seer of the poor ; how the press-gang worked its cruel 
 way to man the ships and fill the regiments of the 
 Georges ; how the good folk of Youlgreave sent forth 
 a spy to watch the movements of Charles Edward in 
 1745 ; and how they prepared to defend themselves 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 65 
 
 by giving their constable a new bill-head, and repair- 
 ing his old one ; how unmerciful was the treatment 
 of lunatics : and how free was the consumption of 
 ale, on the smallest possible provocation, at the 
 parish's expense ; these, and a thousand other 
 minutiae, all of them possessing some point of inte- 
 rest, can be gleaned from these annals of a parish, 
 to say nothing of the perfect genealogy of nearly 
 every family, together with an account of their 
 varying circumstances, that might be constructed by 
 their aid." 
 
 The fullest and best information respecting the 
 parish as a unit of the national life, with much that 
 pertains to the history of its various officers from 
 the earliest times, will be found in Toulmin Smith's 
 " The Parish ; its powers and obligations." The 
 second and best edition was published in 1857 by 
 H. Sweet, Chancery Lane. 
 
 The history of the village and village officers have 
 
66 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 not hitherto received the attention they deserve, for 
 all onr municipalities have developed out of village 
 communities, and their various officials are but those 
 of the petty rural parish adapted to the needs of an 
 urban population. It will be well 011 this point to 
 refer to the useful "Index of Municipal Offices," 
 with an historical introduction, recently published 
 by G. Laurence Gomme. 
 
 Lists of parochial CHARITIES are sometimes found 
 
 in the parish chest, and more frequently on bequest 
 
 
 boards in the church ; but the local annotator should 
 
 not consider that he has got a perfect or correct list 
 until the elaborate reports of the Charity Commis- 
 sioners, compiled some fifty years ago, have been 
 consulted. In 1843, a most useful Blue Book was 
 published for each county, being an analytical digest 
 of the voluminous reports arranged under parishes. 
 Topographical booksellers can generally procure 
 copies of these, by which a great saving of time will 
 
HISTOKY OF A PARISH. 67 
 
 be effected. There are later Eeports with regard to 
 Endowed Schools. 
 
 of tf)e Ctjurcf), 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, or pre-Norrnan char- 
 ters, occasionally give definite information of a 
 church in a particular parish or district, but as a rule 
 the earliest mention of the parish church will be 
 found in the previously described DOMESDAY BOOK. 
 But the Commissioners, not being specially instructed 
 to make returns of churches, acted on their own 
 judgment, and in some counties omitted them par- 
 tially, and in others altogether. 
 
 TAXATIO ECCLESIASTICA P. NICHOLAI IV. Pope 
 Nicholas IV. (to whose predecessors in the See of 
 Rome the first-fruits and tenths of all ecclesiastical 
 benefices had for a long time been paid) granted the 
 
G8 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 tenths, in 1288, to Edward I. for six years, towards 
 defraying the expenses of a Crusade ; and that they 
 might be collected to their full value, the King caused 
 a valuation roll to be drawn up, which was com- 
 pleted in 1291, under the direction of John, Bishop 
 of Winchester, and Oliver, Bishop of Lincoln. There 
 are two copies of this Boll at the P. B. 0., both of 
 which appear to have been written in the reign of 
 
 
 
 Henry IV., and there is a third, which is by far the 
 oldest, among the Cottonian MSS. of the B. M. 
 These three copies were collated and printed in a 
 folio volume bv the Becord Commission in 1802. 
 
 , 
 
 There are one or two other old copies of this Boll in 
 private libraries ; one in the Chapter Library, Lich- 
 field ; and another, in excellent condition, in the 
 muniment room of Lincoln Cathedral. 
 
 VALOR ECCLESIASTICUS. The taxation of 1291 held 
 good, and all the taxes from the benefices, as well to 
 our Kings as to the Popes, were regulated by it until 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. G9 
 
 27 Henry VIII., when a new survey was completed. 
 Henceforth the first-fruits arid tenths ceased to be 
 forwarded to Borne, and were transferred to the 
 Crown. In 1703 the receipts were appropriated, 
 under the title of Queen Anne's Bounty, to the aug- 
 mentation of the smaller livings. The original 
 returns of the King's Valor are at the P. E. 0. They 
 were officially published in six folio volumes between 
 the years 1811 and 1834. In the latter year an 
 " Introduction" of no little value, was also published 
 in an 8vo. volume, written by the Eev. Joseph 
 Hunter. 
 
 CERTIFICATES OF COLLEGES AND CHANTRIES. About 
 ten years after the completion of his ecclesiastical 
 survey, Henry VIII. decided on appropriating the 
 revenues belonging to Collegiate Churches and 
 
 i 
 
 Chantries. As a preliminary measure to their sale, 
 he appointed a commission, in the 37th year of his 
 reign, to re- value this property, and to take an inven- 
 
70 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 tory of the chattels. The whole subject of the 
 suppression of the Chantries, as conceived by 
 Henry VIII. and finally carried out by Edward VI., 
 is ably and exhaustively treated in the introduction 
 to the volumes of the Cheetham Society, which treat 
 of the Lancashire Chantries. The reports, or 
 "Certificates," furnished by Henry's Commission 
 with respect to the different chantries, are preserved 
 at the P. K. 0., and are entered on rolls arranged in 
 eight parallel columns, in answer to a like number 
 of queries. There are also abridged rolls on paper 
 of some counties. Further information about chan- 
 tries may be sometimes gleaned from certain MS. 
 volumes at the P. E. 0., entitled " Particulars for 
 the Sale of Colleges and Chantries''' In the B. M. 
 (Add. MSS. 8,102) is a valuable roll of Fees, Corro- 
 dies, and Pensions, paid to members of the suppressed 
 chantries and religious houses, out of the Exchequer, 
 2 and 3 Philip and Mary. The pensions for the 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 71 
 
 different counties are oil separate skins, so that it is 
 easy of reference. 
 
 INVENTORIES OF CHURCH GOODS. There are various 
 Inventories of Church Goods in the P. B. 0., taken 
 by Commission at the beginning of the reign of 
 Edward VI., some on detached slips of parchment, 
 others in paper books. The inventories are not 
 absolutely perfect for all parishes in any one county; 
 in several counties the churches of one or more 
 Hundreds are missing ; for others, such as Somerset, 
 Sussex, and the North Eidiug of Yorkshire, there 
 are none extant. Nor are there any for Lincoln- 
 shire ; but there is a MS. return of Church Fur- 
 niture and Ornaments of 150 churches of that 
 county, taken in 1566, in the Episcopal Registry at 
 Lincoln. This was published in 1866, by Edward 
 Peacock, F.S.A. There are also some special Inven- 
 tories connected with other dioceses, which space 
 forbids us to mention. 
 
72 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 GUILDS AND FEATEKNITIES. Guilds and Fraternities 
 of a more or less religious character, and usually 
 directly connected with a special altar at the parish 
 church, will naturally corne under the history of the 
 Church, provided any can be detected in connection 
 with the particular parish. It used to be supposed 
 that these guilds were only found in cities or 
 boroughs, but later researches show that they also 
 occasionally existed in quite small villages. The 
 Parliament of 1381 directed writs to be sent to the 
 sheriffs of each county, calling upon them to see 
 that the Master and Wardens of all Guilds and 
 Brotherhoods made returns to the King's Council 
 in Chancery of all details pertaining to the foun- 
 dation, statutes, and property of their guilds. A 
 large number of the original returns (549) still 
 remain in the P. R. 0., where they are known as 
 " Miscellaneous Rolls, Tower Records, Bundles 
 cccviii. ix. x." For some counties there are none 
 
HISTORY OF A PAEISH. 73 
 
 extant, and for others only those from a single 
 Hundred. More than one hundred of these returns 
 have recently been printed or analysed, by Toulmin 
 Smith, in a volume of the Early English Text 
 Society, entitled " English Gilds." 
 
 HERALDIC CHURCH NOTES. In the different heral- 
 dic visitation books, especially those temp. Elizabeth, 
 which have been previously described, there often 
 occur interesting church notes, which not only detail 
 heraldic glass in the windows and arms on the 
 monuments, but also occasionally give inscriptions 
 that have long since disappeared. These can only 
 be found by a careful iuspection of the heralds' 
 register books of the county in which the parish is 
 
 situated. 
 
 COMMONWEALTH SURVEY. In pursuance of various 
 ordinances of the Parliament, a complete survey of 
 the possessions of Bishops, Deans, and Chapters, and 
 of all benefices, w r as made in 1650, by specially 
 
74 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 appointed Commissioners. These interesting re- 
 turns, filling twenty-one large folio volumes, are in 
 the library of Lambeth Palace, and numbered in 
 the catalogue of MSS. from 902 to 922. These 
 surveys have hitherto been singularly overlooked 
 by county historians and ecclesiologists, though occa- 
 sional extracts have been published from a much- 
 abbreviated and inaccurate summary, based on these 
 documents, which forms No. 459 of the Lansdowne 
 MSS. in the B. M. , 
 
 The Eecord Books of the Commonwealth Com- 
 missioners for augmenting Eectories and Vicarages 
 (MSS. 966-1,021); the original Presentations to 
 various benefices from 1652 to 1659 (MSS. 944-7); 
 and Counterparts of leases of Church Lands, made 
 by authority of Parliament from 1652 to 1658 
 (MSS. 948-50), are also in Lambeth Library. 
 
 BRIEFS. Royal Letters Patent, authorising collec- 
 tions for charitable purposes within churches, were 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 75 
 
 termed "Briefs." Lists of tliern, from the time of 
 Elizabeth downwards, are often to be found 011 the 
 fly-leaves of old register books, or in churchwardens' 
 accounts. The repair or rebuilding of churches in 
 post-Keformatiou days, until nearly the beginning of 
 the Catholic Revival, was almost invariably effected 
 by this method. About the middle of last century, 
 owing to the growing frequency of Briefs, it was 
 ordered that they should only be granted on the 
 formal application of Quarter Sessions. Much infor 
 mation as to the condition of the fabrics and other 
 particulars relative to churches can be gathered from 
 the petitions to Quarter Sessions, in those counties 
 where the documents are accessible. The Briefs 
 themselves were issued from the Court of Chancery, 
 so we suppose they would be attainable at the 
 P. R. 0. At the B. M. is a large collection of original 
 Briefs, from 1754 down to their abolition in 1828. 
 
76 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 They were presented to the Museum in 1829, by Mr. 
 J. Stevenson Salt. 
 
 ADVOWSON. The history of the advowson, if the 
 living remained a rectory, was almost invariably 
 intermixed with that of the manor or the moieties of 
 the manor. Consequently it will be found, that, in 
 the case of rectories, various particulars as to the 
 owners of the advowson, and its value, at different 
 periods, can be gleaned from the Inquisitions, and from 
 the Patent and Close Eolls to which references have 
 already been made ; or, in the case of litigation, from 
 the Plea Rolls and Year Books. If the living became . 
 at any time a Vicarage, care should be taken to look 
 through the particulars given by Dugdale and Tanner, 
 of the religious house to which the big tithes were 
 appropriated, and more especially to carefully search 
 the chartularies of that establishment, if any are 
 extant. There is an excellent list of the various 
 monastic Chartularies, i.e., ancient parchment books, 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 77 
 
 containing transcripts or abstracts of the charters of 
 the different houses, in the first two volumes of 
 Nichols' " Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica," 
 and a shorter one in Sims' " Manual." 
 
 The Ordination of a Vicarage, i.e., the official ap- 
 propriation of certain parts of the endowment for 
 the sustentation of a vicar, required episcopal confir- 
 mation ; and these ordinations w r ill usually be found 
 in the Episcopal Registers, if they are extant for the 
 date when the rectory was formally appropriated. 
 These ordinations often contain information of great 
 interest, and have hitherto been very rarely searched 
 for, and still more rarely printed. 
 
 The terms used in these documents for different 
 sorts of tithes, for the various produce of the soil, 
 etc., etc., will be sought for in vain in any ordinary 
 Latin Dictionary ; for their explanation it will be 
 necessary to consult a Glossary of medieval or mon- 
 astic terms. The most handy and accurate is the 
 
78 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 abridged edition of the Glossaries of Du Gauge, Du 
 Fresne, etc., in six vols. 8vo., published at Halle, 
 between 1722-1784. Some such work will also be 
 found indispensable in consulting the monastic 
 Chartularies and many of the Eecords and Eolls. 
 The majority of the terms will be found in the last 
 two editions of Cowel's ' Interpreter," 1708, and 
 1737, which can much more readily be met with 
 than the larger glossaries ; but there is great need 
 for a one volume compendious glossary, and it is 
 hoped that such a work may shortly be published. 
 
 LISTS OF INCUMBENTS. Lists of rectors and vicars, 
 giving the date of their institution, and the names of 
 their respective patrons, are indispensable to a com- 
 plete parochial history. They are, for the most part, 
 to be obtained from the diocesan registers. This 
 work, in several dioceses, will be found to involve no 
 small labour, for Bishop's registrars were not always 
 particular to separate institutions from other Epis- 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. T'J 
 
 copal acts, aud occasionally placed them in precise 
 chronological order for the whole diocese, without 
 any regard to archdeaconries and other minor divi- 
 sions. But the trouble will be amply repaid by the 
 numerous quaint and interesting little details that 
 the searcher will be almost sure to discover. Many 
 of our episcopal registers, or act books, are of supreme 
 interest, and yet they are perhaps less known than 
 any class of original documents. The dates at which 
 these registers begin average about the year 1300. 
 We give, for the first time in any manual, their 
 respective initial years : Canterbury, 1279 ; Lon- 
 don, 1306; Winchester, 1282; Ely 1336; Lincoln, 
 1217; Lichfield, 1296; Wells, 1309; Salisbury, 
 1296; Exeter, 1257; Norwich, 1299; Worcester, 
 1268; Hereford, 1275; Chichester, 1397; Rochester, 
 1319 ; York, 1214 ; and Carlisle, 1292. The old 
 registers of Durham are mostly lost, that of Bishop 
 Kellaw, 1311-18, being the oldest. None of the 
 
80 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 Welsh Cathedrals have any registers older than the 
 16th century. 
 
 Gaps are not unusual in the episcopal registers for 
 some time subsequent to the Keformation, when the 
 books were often kept in a slovenly fashion. These 
 deficiencies can be generally supplied from the lists 
 of institutions in the Augmentation Books at the 
 P. R. 0. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that no list of incum- 
 bents should be considered complete, until it has been 
 carefully collated with the parish registers. 
 
 Catalogues of all the English Bishops are to be 
 found in Canon Stubbs's " Registrum Sacrum Angli- 
 canum ;" and similar lists of Deans, Prebendaries, 
 and minor dignitaries, in Hardy's edition of Le Neve's 
 " Fasti Ecclesia AnglicancB." Both of these works 
 may probably be useful when drawing up the list of 
 parish priests. 
 
 Lists of priests appointed to the more important 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 81 
 
 chantries can usually also be extracted from the 
 diocesan registers, for, except in peculiar circum- 
 stances, they required episcopal institution. 
 
 Any facts of interest or importance that can be 
 ascertained respecting the successive incumbents 
 should be chronicled. For the time of the Common- 
 wealth, Walker's " Sufferings of the Clergy " on the 
 one hand, and Calamy's " Ejected Ministers " on the 
 other, should be consulted. They both make men- 
 tion of a very great number of the clergy. 
 
 DEDICATION. The dedication of the church should 
 never be taken for granted from county gazetteers 
 or directories. Dedications to All Saints, and to the 
 Blessed Virgin, should be viewed with some suspicion 
 until firmly established, for in the time of Henry VIII. 
 the dedication festivals, or " wakes," were often 
 transferred to All Saints' Day, or Lady Day, in order 
 to avoid a multiplicity of holidays, and hence by 
 
 degrees the real dedication became forgotten. Ecton's 
 6 
 
82 HOW TO WKITE THE 
 
 "Thesaurus Rerum Ecelesiasticarum' 1 '' (1742), and 
 Bacon's "Liber Regis' (1786), should be consulted 
 for dedications. Occasionally the patron saints of 
 the different churches are mentioned in the institu- 
 tions in the episcopal registers, and more often in 
 monastic chartularies ; but the surest of all refe- 
 rences, in the case of a doubtful dedication, is to look 
 up the pre-Keformation wills of the lords of the 
 manor or other chief people of the parish. These 
 wills almost invariably contain an early clause to 
 this effect : ' I leave my body to be buried within 
 
 the church of Si. ." The time of the wakes or 
 
 village feast is a good guide to the dedication, but 
 one which, from the reason stated above, as well as 
 from other causes, must not be implicitly relied 
 upon. 
 
 Another point worth remembering with regard to 
 
 dedications, is that re-consecration was not of unfre- 
 
 . queiit occurrence. Murder and some other crimes 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 83 
 
 within the church, as well as special violations of 
 the altar, rendered re-consecration imperative ; and 
 it was also often resorted to when the fabric was 
 altogether or considerably re-built, or even when a 
 new chancel was added. At the time of these re- 
 consecrations, it occasionally happened that the name 
 of the patron saint was changed, not from mere 
 caprice or love of novelty, bat because relics of that 
 particular saint were obtained for inclosure in the 
 chief or high altar. This should be borne in mind 
 when a discrepancy is found in the name of the 
 patron saint of the same church at different epochs. 
 
 The chapter of Parker's ' Calendar of the Anglican 
 Church," entitled " A few remarks on the dedication 
 of English Churches,'' is worth reading. This book 
 is also valuable for the brief account of the saints 
 most frequently met with in England, both in dedi- 
 cations and otherwise. The first half of the book 
 has been re-published once or twice, under the title 
 
84 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 of " Calendar of the Prayer Book," but it leaves out 
 the chapters here mentioned, and is comparatively 
 valueless as compared with the edition of 1851. 
 Harington " On the Consecration of Churches," 
 published by Eivington in 1844, should also be read. 
 
 of 
 
 Having finished the history of the Church, it will 
 be best to follow it up by a description of the fabric 
 of the Church, and of all its details. 
 
 STYLES OF ARCHITECTURE. In deciding as to the 
 different "periods" under which to classify the 
 various styles into which almost every parish church 
 is more or less divided, it is perhaps wisest to confine 
 oneself to the simple and generally accepted divisions 
 of English architecture, originally adopted by Mr. 
 Eickman, viz. (1) the Saxon, from 800 to 1066 ; (2) 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 85 
 
 the Norrnau, from 10G6 to 1145; (3) the Early 
 English, from 1145 to 1272; (4) the Decorated, from 
 1272 to 1377 ; and (5) the Perpendicular, from 1377 
 to 1509. Some competent writers always speak of 
 three periods of Transition, covering the reigns of 
 Henry II., Edward I., and Kichard II.; whilst 
 others, and this may be well adopted, speak of only 
 one regular " Transition," meaning by that term the 
 period between the Early English and Decorated, or 
 the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). 
 
 These divisions are generally accepted as sufficing 
 for popular purposes ; but of the more detailed and 
 technical divisions of later writers, there are none so 
 correct in nomenclature, and so accurate in separa- 
 tion of style, as the seven periods of Mr. Edmund 
 Sharpe. The first and second of his periods are the 
 same as given above, but the third is styled the 
 Transitional, from 1145 to 1190; the fourth, the 
 Lancet, from 1190 to 1245; the fifth, the Geometrical, 
 
86 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 from 1245 to 1315 ; the sixth, the Curvilinear, from 
 1315 to 1360 ; and the seventh, the Eectilinear, from 
 1360 to 1550. See Sharpe's Seven Periods of Eng- 
 lish Architecture," with its excellent series of plates. 
 
 There are numerous architectural manuals, but 
 Parker's " Glossary of Gothic Architecture " has not 
 been surpassed, and is very comprehensive. The 
 best edition is the fourth, with the two additional 
 volumes of plates. 
 
 Before classifying the different parts of the build- 
 ing according to the various periods, a most careful 
 inspection should be made of both inner and outer 
 walls, when fragments of mouldings, pertaining 
 possibly to an earlier church than any now standing, 
 may not unfrequently be detected. 
 
 MONUMENTS. Inscriptions on monuments now 
 missing, or partly obliterated, may sometimes be 
 recovered from the Church Notes of Heraldic Visi- 
 tations, or other MS. note books of ecclesiologists of 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 87 
 
 past generations, in which some counties are pecu- 
 liarly fortunate. For a list of MSS. of this descrip- 
 tion, that may be found in our public libraries, 
 arranged under counties, see Sims' " Manual." It 
 may also be useful to refer to two printed works 
 Le Neve's " Monumenta Anglicana," 5 vols. 8vo. 
 (17171719), and Weaver's ''Ancient Funerall 
 Monuments," the latest edition of which, with addi- 
 tions, is a 4to. vol. of 1767. The former gives 
 inscriptions on monuments of eminent persons who 
 deceased between 1600 and 1718, the latter treats 
 generally of all monuments in the dioceses of Canter- 
 bury, Kochester, London, and Norwich. Bloxam. 
 on " Monumental Architecture " (1834), is a useful 
 handbook on the general subject of monuments. 
 
 Cutts' "Manual of Sepulchral Slabs and Crosses' 
 is the only book dealing with the interesting subject of 
 early INCISED SLABS. It is well done, but much more 
 has come to light on the subject since it was written 
 
88 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 (1849), and a new manual is much wanted. In some 
 counties, where stone abounds, remains of this 
 description are found in most churches. If any part 
 of the church is being rebuilt, the debris should be 
 most carefully looked over ; and a minute inspection 
 of the existing masonry will often detect more or less 
 perfect specimens of incised crosses that have been 
 utilised in the masonry by the church restorers of 
 past generations. The lintels of the windows (espe- 
 cially of the clerestory and of the tower), the inner 
 side of the parapets or battlements, the stone seats 
 of the porch, and of course the whole of the flooring, 
 should be critically scanned for these relics. See 
 also Boutell's " Christian Monuments." 
 
 Haines' "Manual of Monumental BRASSES" (2 vols, 
 8vo., 1861) is the best book on that class of memo- 
 rials. The second volume consists of a fairlv 
 
 v 
 
 exhaustive list of brasses throughout the kingdom. 
 There is no good handbook dealing exclusively with 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 89 
 
 STONE EFFIGIES, a great desideratum ; the big illus- 
 trated folios of Go ugh' s " Sepulchral Monuments," 
 and Stothard's " Monumental Effigies," may be con- 
 sulted with advantage. For the details of ARMOUR, 
 Hewitt's " Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe " 
 (3 vols) is the most exhaustive work ; for the details 
 of COSTUME there are several expensive works, but 
 the best handbook is Fairholt's " Costume in Eng- 
 land," to which is appended an illustrated glossary 
 of terms. 
 
 In connection with stained or painted GLASS, 
 Winston's " Hints on Glass Painting " (2nd edition, 
 1867) should be read, wherein the different styles of 
 successive periods are critically distinguished and 
 illustrated. 
 
 For the important item of HERALDRY, both in glass 
 and on monuments, the best of the numerous 
 manuals (and there are several very trashy) is 
 Cussan's " Handbook of Heraldry." Burke's " Gene- 
 
90 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 ral Armoury," of which a new and extended edition 
 was published in 1878, is a dictionary of arms' classi- 
 fied under families. Papworth's " Dictionary of 
 British Armorials" is arranged on the opposite prin- 
 ciple, viz., the blazonry or description of the arms is 
 given first, and the name of the family or families to 
 which it pertains follows. It is an expensive work, 
 but indispensable in the identification of arms. It 
 will also be found to be far more accurate than 
 Burke, and gives references to the various rolls and 
 other MSS. from which the arms are cited. 
 
 FONTS are almost a speciality in themselves. 
 Simpson's "Series of Ancient Baptismal Fonts," 
 1825, has a large number of beautifully finished 
 plates of the more remarkable examples. Paley's 
 "Baptismal Font," 1844, has illustrations and 
 critical descriptions of a great number, arranged 
 alphabetically. See also the " Archaeologia," vols. 
 x. and xi. 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. . 91 
 
 BELLS have now a literature of their own. Ella- 
 comb's " Bells of the Church," and Fowler's " Bells 
 and Bell-ringing " are admirable works. The inscrip- 
 tions, etc., on the church bells of the majority of 
 English counties have already been published, and 
 most of the remainder are now in progress. North's 
 "Bells of Leicestershire," and " Bells of Northamp- 
 tonshire," are the best books of their class, but the 
 " Bells of Derbyshire,'' now in course of publication 
 in the " Reliquary," and chiefly contributed by St. 
 John Hope, are being yet more thoroughly treated, 
 both in description and illustration. 
 
 Church PLATE should always be inspected, and the 
 date, character, inscription, or arms on each piece 
 carefully recorded. Chaffers' " Hall Marks on Plate ' : 
 gives the fullest description of the different marks, 
 and how the precise date can be thereby ascertained. 
 The fifth edition, published in 1875, is a consider- 
 able improvement on its predecessors. 
 
92 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 INVENTORIES OF CHURCH GOODS often need explana- 
 tion, or remains of various ancient church furniture 
 may make some description necessary. There is no 
 one book that can be thoroughly recommended on 
 this subject ; but, perhaps, the most satisfactory in 
 some respects is Walcott's " Sacred Archaeology," a 
 popular dictionary of ecclesiastical art and insti- 
 tutions. Jules Corblet's " Manuel Elementaire 
 d'Archeologie Natiouale ' may be consulted with 
 advantage ; it is a better done work than anything 
 of the size and scope in English, and is well illus- 
 trated. For the various details of Church worship 
 and ceremonies, reference should be made to Bock's 
 " Church of our Fathers," and to Chambers' valuable 
 work, " Divine Worship in England in the Thirteenth 
 and Fourteenth Centuries, contrasted with and 
 adapted to that in the Nineteenth." 
 
 Before beginning the description of the Church, it 
 will be well, in the first place, in order to ensure 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 93 
 
 clearness and accuracy, that some general PLAN OF 
 PROCEDURE should be adopted. We give the following 
 skeleton of a suggested outline, that has been proved 
 to be useful and orderly, but it can, of course, be 
 altered or expanded or re-arranged in any direction. 
 
 1, Enumeration of component parts of structure, 
 remarks as to its general or special characteristics. 
 
 2 Ground plan, i.e., dimensions of area of chancel, 
 nave, etc., different levels, and number of chancel 
 
 and altar steps. 
 
 3. Description of parts of the permanent structure 
 
 that are (a) Saxon, (6) Norman, (c) Early English, 
 (d) Transition, (e) Decorated, (/) Perpendicular, 
 (g) Debased, (/) Churchwarden, and (i) Restored. 
 Some definite order should be observed under each 
 head, otherwise it is likely that some details may 
 escape, e.g. doorways, windows, piers, arches, etc., 
 of chancel, nave, aisles, porches, transepts, tower, 
 and chapels. 
 
94 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 4. External details parapets, gurgoyles, niches, 
 stoup, arms, inscriptions, "low side windows." 
 
 5. Internal details [Stone] altar or altar stone, 
 piscina, alrnery, hagioscope, Easter or sepulchral 
 recess, niches, brackets, roof-corbels, and sedilia of 
 (a) chancel, (6) south aisle, (c) north aisle, and (d) 
 chapels or transepts ; also groined roofs, doorway or 
 steps to roodloft, and stone screens [Wood] altar 
 table, altar rails, reading desk, lectern, pulpit, pews, 
 benches, poppy-heads, panelling, roofs, doors, galle- 
 ries, rood or chancel screen, other screens or par- 
 closes, parish or vestment chests, alms boxes [Iron 
 or other metal] any old details. 
 
 6. Font (a) position, (b) description, (c) measure- 
 ments, (d) cover. 
 
 7. Monuments beginning with early incised 
 stones, and carefully following them down in chro- 
 nological order, an order which should not be broken 
 except for the purpose of keeping a family gioup 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 95 
 
 together. Arms should be correctly blazoned, and 
 inscriptions faithfully copied. 
 
 8. Stained glass, according to age. 
 
 9. Encaustic tiles pavement generally. 
 
 10. Fresco paintings, black-letter texts, patterns 
 on roof or elsewhere, royal arms, charity bequest 
 boards. 
 
 11. Bells (a) number, (6) inscription and marks, 
 (f) frame, (d) remarkable peals, or bell-ringers 
 rhymes, (<?) legends ; also sanctus bell, or bell cote 
 on nave gable. 
 
 12. Parish registers and other documents ; church 
 books, or library. 
 
 13. Church plate. 
 
 14. Church yard, (a) cross, (6) remarkable monu- 
 ments or epitaphs, (c) yew tree, (d) lychgate, (e) 
 sundial. 
 
 15. More recent fittings or ornaments, such as 
 altar appurtenances, organ, etc. ; the previous head- 
 
96 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 ings being supposed to be confined to older details 
 possessing some historic value. But if the date, or 
 probable date, is given of each particular, it might 
 perhaps be as well to describe everything (if a com- 
 plete account up to date is desired) under its proper 
 head ; thus a modern altar cross and candlesticks 
 might be mentioned under the 5th head. 
 
 A few words on church " EESTORATION" may be 
 here introduced ; for it cannot surely be inappro- 
 priate to include a sentence or two in these pages 
 (whose object it is to further the preservation of local 
 records), that may possibly have some small influ- 
 ence in preventing the needless destruction of any 
 part of those noble buildings round which the history 
 of each English parish so closely clusters. From 
 the standpoint of a local annalist nothing has been 
 more painful in the " restorations " of the past forty 
 years than the wanton way in which monuments, 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 97 
 
 and more especially flat tombstones, of all ages, have 
 been often treated. 
 
 It is necessary to enter a warm protest against the 
 notion that any honour can be paid to God, or respect 
 to the memory of those that He created in His own 
 image, by burying inscribed gravestones beneath 
 many inches of concrete in order to stick therein the 
 glossy tiles of recent manufacture. The effacing or 
 removal (wherever it can be avoided) of the memo- 
 rials of the dead should in all cases be strongly 
 resisted, no matter what be the eminence of the 
 architect that recommends it. There are not many 
 unrestored churches left in the country, but there 
 are some of much value and interest for whose fate 
 we tremble. When a "restoration" (the term is a 
 necessity for the lack of a better) is contemplated, let 
 it be recollected that all work beyond the removal 
 
 4 
 
 of galleries, and modern fittings, the opening out of 
 flat plaster ceilings, above which good timber roofs 
 
98 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 often lie concealed, the scraping off the accumulated 
 layers of whitewash and paint, the letting in of light 
 through blocked- up windows, the allowing of feet to 
 pass through doorways closed in recent days by the 
 mason or bricklayer, and the making strong of really 
 perishing parts all work beyond this is in great 
 danger of destroying the traces of the historic con- 
 tinuity of our Church, and of doing a damage that 
 can never be repaired. And in preserving this his- 
 toric continuity, let it not be thought that any service 
 is being rendered to history or religion by sweeping 
 clean out of the church all fittings of a post-Kefor- 
 mation date. The sturdy Elizabethan benches, the 
 well-carved Jacobean pulpit, or the altar rails of 
 beaten iron of last century, should all be preserved 
 as memorials of their respective periods ; in short, 
 everything that our forefathers gave to God's service 
 that was costly and good, should be by us preserved, 
 provided that it does not mar the devout ritual 
 
HISTORY OF A PAEISH. 99 
 
 ordered by the Common Prayer, or in other respects 
 interfere with the Church's due proclaiming of her 
 Divine mission to the nineteenth century. The 
 reaction against over-restoration is now happily 
 setting in, but a word of caution is also necessary 
 lest that cry should be adopted as the cloak of a lazy 
 indifferentism, or be used as an excuse for regarding 
 the parish church as a local museum illustrative of 
 byegone times, to be carefully dusted and nothing 
 more. Where much new work, or any considerable 
 extent of refitting, seem absolutely necessary, it is 
 best to hasten slowly, and to do a little well rather 
 than to aim at a speedy general effect. Thus, if one 
 of our old grey churches requires fresh seating, how 
 much better to fill a single aisle or one bay of the 
 nave with sound and effectively carved oak, and only 
 repair the remainder, rather than to accomplish the 
 whole in sticky pine. The best material and the 
 best art should surely be used in God's service, and 
 
100 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 not reserved to feed our pride or minister to our 
 comfort in private dwellings. It has often been 
 noticed how far better the work of redeeming the 
 interior of our churches from that state of dirt and 
 neglect that had degraded some at least below the 
 level of the very barns upon the glebe, has been 
 carried out where money has come in slowly, and at 
 intervals, rather than where some munificent patron 
 has readily found the funds to enter upon a big 
 contract. 
 
 If the parish includes within its boundaries the 
 remains or the site of any abbey, priory, hospital, 
 monastic cell, or other religious building otherwise 
 than the parish church, the history and description 
 of such places must of course be separately under- 
 

 
 
 , 
 
 HISTORY OF A PARISH. 101 
 
 taken. And let not the local historian consider it is 
 needless for him to explore into a subject that has 
 probably been treated of with greater or less detail 
 in the original edition of Dugdale's " Monasticon," 
 or with more precision in the expanded English 
 edition. The English abbeys or priories, whose 
 history can be said to have been exhaustively written, 
 could certainly be counted on the fingers of both 
 hands. 
 
 Should any one desire to thoroughly search into 
 the history of a religious house, it will be best in the 
 first place to ascertain whether there is any char- 
 tulary or chartularies extant (to printed lists of which 
 we have previously referred) for Dugdale and subse- 
 quent writers have often only quoted some two or 
 three out of a hundred charters, or ignored them 
 altogether. Secondly, the numerous references to 
 national records, all now to be found at the P. R. 0., 
 which are given in Tanner's " Notitia," or in the big 
 
102 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 Dugdale, should be referred to seriatim. Thirdly, 
 the indexes and calendars to the various Eolls, etc., 
 at the P. E. 0., which have been mentioned under 
 the manorial history, should be looked through for 
 those more or less frequent references that are 
 almost certain to have been omitted by Tanner. 
 Fourthly, the Augmentation Books, and other likely 
 documents of the time of the Suppression of the 
 Monasteries, should be overhauled. Fifthly, special 
 MSS. dealing with the order to which the house 
 pertains, should be sought after; e.g., if of the 
 Premonstratensian order, a store of unpublished 
 matter is almost certain to be found in the Peck 
 MSS. of the B. M., and in the Visitation Book of the 
 B., numbered Ashrnole MSS. 1519. Sixthly, search 
 should also be made through the indexes of the 
 various Blue Book Keports of the Historical Manu- 
 script Commission, and inquiries set on foot as to 
 local private libraries. Seventhly, and though last, 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 103 
 
 this suggestion will often be found to be of great 
 value, questions should be asked through the pages 
 of that invaluable medium between literary men- 
 Notes and Queries. 
 
 It may also be found of use to study the precise 
 statutes and regulations of the particular order. 
 They will be found in full in the bulky folios 
 of Holstein's " Codex Regularum Monasticarum et 
 Canonicar um" 1759. Dugdale only gives an 
 abstract of the majority of them. 
 
 Under this head we may classify the more general 
 and modern subjects that should not be left out of 
 any complete parochial history, but which it is 
 sufficient just to indicate without further comment, 
 only premising that the annalist should keep con- 
 
104 HOW TO WRITE THE 
 
 stantly before him that it is the history of a parish, 
 and not of a county or country, on which he is 
 engaged, and that the more sparing he is of general 
 disquisitions the more likely he is to please his readers. 
 The value of a thorough study of the field-names, 
 of which we spoke in the first section of this manual, 
 will now also become apparent. Some names will 
 tell of a change of physical features, of swamps and 
 islands, where all is now dry and far removed from 
 water, or of forests and underwood, where the blade 
 of corn is now the highest vegetation ; whilst others 
 will point to the previous existence of the vast com- 
 mon fields, and their peculiar cultivation (concerning 
 which Maine's "Village Communities" should be 
 read). Some will indicate the foolish ways in which 
 special crops were attempted to be forced by law 
 upon the people, for it is few parishes that have 
 not a "Flax Piece" as a witness to the futile legis- 
 lation of 24 Henry VIII. ; whilst others tell of trades 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 105 
 
 now extinct, or metals long since worked out. Some 
 speak of those early days when the wolf or the bear 
 roamed the woods and fields, the beaver dammed up 
 the streams, or the eagle swooped down upon its 
 prey ; whilst others tell of the weapons whereby 
 these fauna were rendered extinct, for scarcely a 
 township can be found where some field is not termed 
 " the Butts," names that certainly date back as far 
 as Edward IV., when it was enacted that every 
 Englishman should have a bow of his own height, 
 and that butts for the practice of archery should be 
 erected near every village, where the inhabitants 
 were obliged to shoot up and down on every feast day 
 under penalty of being mulcted a halfpenny. 
 
 It will, of course, be a matter of taste whether the 
 topics here enumerated should precede or follow the 
 manorial and ecclesiastical history. 
 
 I. Situation extent hill and river caverns and 
 springs scenic character climate and temperature. 
 
106 HOW TO WEITE THE 
 
 II. Geology mineral workings quarries. 
 
 III. Special vegetable productions, past and 
 present. 
 
 IV. Special Fauna mammalia birds fish rep- 
 tiles insects. 
 
 V. Agriculture, past and present. Inclosures of 
 different dates Inclosure Acts ; for the mostly sad 
 effects of these most selfish Acts, which profited the 
 rich at the expense of the poor, for lists of inclosures 
 from time of Queen Anne, and for other valuable 
 information on this topic, see " General Eeport on 
 Enclosures," drawn up by the Board of Agriculture 
 in 1808. The Board of Agriculture, in the first 
 quarter of this century, drew up most valuable Sur- 
 veys of Agriculture for the different counties, many 
 of which are replete with varied and interesting 
 information. On the economic and antiquarian side 
 of this question, read Professor Kogers's " History 
 of Agriculture and Prices in England." 
 
HISTORY OF A PARISH. 107 
 
 VI. Trades and manufactures, past and present. 
 
 VII. Fairs and markets. 
 
 VIII. Koads, canals, railways, and bridges past 
 and present. Care should be taken in tracing out 
 disused roads, bridle paths, or pack-horse tracks. 
 
 IX. Folk-lore. Under this head will come cus- 
 toms and ceremonies relating to childbearing, 
 churching, christening, courtship, betrothal, mar- 
 riage, death, and burial public-house signs and 
 their meaning customs and superstitions pertaining 
 to wells and streams used and disused sports and 
 games obsolete punishments, such as ducking-stool 
 or stocks omens witchcraft ghosts charms 
 divinations and other quaint or original customs. 
 Several books have lately been published on this 
 subject, but they are mostly instances of book- 
 making, and none come up to or surpass E Iris's 
 edition of " Brand's Popular Antiquities." A most 
 useful publication society has been recently started, 
 
108 HOW TO WHITE THE HISTOKY OF A PARISH. 
 
 termed " The Folk Lore Society," which has already 
 begun collecting and publishing. The Hon. Sec. is 
 G. Lawrence Gomme, Esq., Castelnau, Barnes. 
 
 X. Dialect. On this subject see the invaluable 
 publications of the "English Dialect Society," now 
 (1879) in the seventh year of its existence. The 
 hon. secretary is J. H. Nodal, Esq., The Grange, 
 Heaton Moor, Stockport. One of their publications, 
 price 6s. to non-subscribers, is " A List of Books 
 relating to some of the counties of England." Halli- 
 well's " Dictionarv of Archaic and Provincial Words " 
 
 / 
 
 will be found very useful. 
 
 XI. Poor Law and general Eating, history and 
 statistics. 
 
 XII. Population, inhabited houses, and other 
 census details at different periods. 
 
INDEX, 
 
 Advowson, 76. 
 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 16. 
 Armour, 89. 
 Attainders, 53. 
 
 Bacon's " Liber Eegis," 82. 
 
 Banks' " Dormant and Ex- 
 rinct Baronage," 48. 
 
 Bateman's " Ten Years~'Dig- 
 gings," 15. 
 
 Bells, 91. ' 
 
 Bigelow's " Placita Anglo- 
 Normannica," 35. 
 
 Black Book of the Exchequer, 
 20. 
 
 Blount's " Ancient Tenures," 
 19. 
 
 Bloxam's " Monumental Ar- 
 chitecture," 87. 
 
 Bohn's " Antiquarian Series," 
 16. 
 
 Boldon Book, 18. 
 
 Book of Ely, 17. 
 
 Book of Exeter, 17. 
 
 Book of "Winchester, 18. 
 
 Borough Records, 56. 
 
 Boutell's " Christian Monu- 
 ments," 88. 
 
 Brand's " Popular Antiqui- 
 ties," 107. 
 
 Brasses, 88. 
 
 Briefs, 74. 
 
 Burke's " Armoury," 89. 
 Burke's "Landed Gentry," 
 
 48. 
 Burn's " Parish Registers," 
 
 58. 
 
 Calamy's " Ejected Minis- 
 ters," 81. 
 
 Chaffer's "Hall Marks," 91. 
 
 Chalmer's " Biographical 
 Dictionary," 57. 
 
 Chamber's " Divine Wor- 
 ship," 92. 
 
 Chantries, 69. 
 
 Charities, 66. 
 
 Charnock's " Local Ety- 
 mology," 14. 
 
 Charter Rolls, 25. 
 
 Church Details, 93-6. 
 
 Church, Description of, 84. 
 
 Church, History of, 67. 
 
 Churchwardens' Accounts, 62. 
 
 Close Rolls, 24. 
 
 Collins' "Peerage and 
 Baronetage. 48. 
 
 Commonwealth Survey, 73. 
 
 Constables' Accounts, 62. 
 
 Corblet's " Manuel Elernen- 
 taire," 92. 
 
 Costume, 89. 
 
 County Records, 55. 
 
 Court of Chancery, 33. 
 
 Cowel's " Interpreter," 78. 
 
110 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cussan's " Heraldry," 89. 
 Cutt's " Incised Slabs," 87. 
 
 Dialect, 108. 
 
 Dedication of Church, 81. 
 Domesday Book, 16, 67. 
 Domestic Architecture, 44. 
 Dugdale's " Baronage," 48. 
 Dugdale's " Monasticon,"101. 
 
 Ecton's "Thesaurus," 82. 
 Edniondson's " Baronagium 
 
 Genealogicum," 48. 
 Edmund's " Names of 
 
 Places, "14. 
 Ellacombe's "Bells of the 
 
 Church," 91. 
 Ellis' " Introduction to 
 
 Domesday Book," 17. 
 English Dialect Society, 108. 
 Episcopal Registers, 79. 
 Etymology, 13. 
 
 Fairholt's " Costume," 89. 
 Feet of Fines, 40. 
 Ferguson's " River Names," 
 
 15. 
 Ferguson's " Teutonic Name 
 
 System, "15. 
 Fergusson's " Eude Stone 
 
 Monuments," 15. 
 Fergusson's ''History of 
 
 Architecture," 48. 
 Feudal Tenure, 18. 
 Field Names, 13, 104. 
 Fine Rolls, 26. 
 Folk Lore, 107. 
 Folk Lore Society, 108. 
 Fonts, 90. 
 Forfeitures, 53. 
 
 Fosbrooke's "Encyclopaedia 
 of Antiquities," 44. 
 
 Fowler's ' ' Bells and Bell- 
 ringing," 91. 
 
 Fuller's " Worthies," 57. 
 
 General Topics, 103-8. 
 
 Glass, 89. 
 
 Gomme's " Index of Munici- 
 pal Offices," 66. 
 
 Gough's " Sepulchral Monu- 
 ments," 89. 
 
 Greenwell's " British Bar- 
 rows," 15. 
 
 Guilds and Fraternities, 72. 
 
 Haine's "Brasses," 88. 
 
 Halliwell's ' ' Archaic Dic- 
 tionary," 108. 
 
 Hamilton's " Quarter Ses- 
 sions," 56. 
 
 Heralds' Visitations, 49. 
 
 Heraldic Church Notes, 73. 
 
 Heraldry, 89. 
 
 Hewitt's " Ancient Armour," 
 89. 
 
 HistoricalMSS. Commission, 
 56. 
 
 History of the Church, 67. 
 
 Holstein's " Codex," 103. 
 
 Hundred Rolls, 27. 
 
 Incised Slabs, 87. 
 Inclosure Acts, 106. 
 Inclosure Commissioners, 14, 
 
 106. 
 
 Incumbents, Lists of, 78. 
 Inquisitiones ad quod dam- 
 
 num, 39. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Inqtiisitiones post mortem, 
 
 36. 
 Inventories of Church Goods, 
 
 71, 92. 
 Itinerant Justices, 31. 
 
 Justices in Eyre, 31. 
 Justices of the Forest, 31. 
 
 Kemble's " Saxons in Eng- 
 land," 16. 
 Knight's Fees, 18. 
 
 Le Neve's " Fasti," 80. 
 
 Le Neve's " Monumenta 
 Anglicana," 88. 
 
 Leo's "Local Nomenclature," 
 14. 
 
 Local Etymology, 13. 
 
 Lubbock's " Scientific Lec- 
 tures," 15. 
 
 Maine's " Village Communi- 
 ties," 104. 
 
 Manorial History, 16. 
 
 Maps, 14. 
 
 Marshall's " Genealogist's 
 Guide," 49. 
 
 Marshall "Rolls, 20. 
 
 Mayors of Boroughs, 54. 
 
 Members of Parliament, 54. 
 
 Merewether's " History of 
 Boroughs," 57. 
 
 Monuments, 86. 
 
 Muster Rolls, 54. 
 
 Nichols' " Collectanea," 77. 
 Nicolas' " Notitia Historica," 
 
 53. 
 Nonarum Inquisitiones, 21. 
 
 Nonconformist Registers, 
 61. 
 
 " Notes and Queries," 103. 
 
 North's " Bells of Leicester- 
 shire and Northampton- 
 shire," 91. 
 
 Originalia, 26. 
 Overseers of the Poor, 62. 
 
 Paley's "Fonts, "90. 
 
 Papworth's " Armorials," 89. 
 
 Pardons, 53. 
 
 Parish Registers, 58. 
 
 Parker's " Calendar," 84. 
 
 Parker's " Domestic Archi- 
 tecture, 47. 
 
 Parker's " Glossary of Archi- 
 tecture," 86. 
 
 Parochial Records, 58. 
 
 Patent Rolls, 23. 
 
 Pedes Finium, 40. 
 
 Personal History, 48. 
 
 Pipe Rolls, 22. 
 
 Placita, 29. 
 
 Placita Itinerum, 32. 
 
 Plate, 91. 
 
 Prehistoric Remains, 15. 
 
 Quo Warranto Rolls, 32. 
 
 Re-consecration, 82. 
 Records of Assize, 32. 
 Recusant Rolls, 53. 
 Re-dedication, 83. 
 Religious Houses, 100. 
 " Reliquary," 91. 
 Report on Enclosures, 106. 
 Report on Municipal Corpo- 
 rations, 57. 
 
112 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Eeport on Public Eecords, 
 53. 
 
 Restoration, 96. 
 
 Rock's " Church of our 
 Fathers," 92. 
 
 Roger's " History of Agri- 
 culture," 106. 
 
 Rotuli Curiae Regis, 30. 
 
 Scutage Rolls, 20. 
 
 Sequestrations, 53. 
 
 Sharpe's " Seven Periods," 
 86. 
 
 Sheriffs, 54. 
 
 Simpson's " Fonts," 90. 
 
 Sims' " Index to Pedigrees," 
 52. 
 
 Sims' " Manual," 39, 52, 54, 
 77, 87. 
 
 Stone Effigies, 89. 
 
 Stothard's " Monumental 
 Effigies," 89. 
 
 Stubb's " Registrum Sa- 
 crum," 86. 
 
 Styles of Architecture, 84. 
 
 Tanner's " Notitia," 101. 
 Taylor's "Words and Places," 
 
 14. 
 Taxation of Pope Nicholas, 
 
 67. 
 
 Testa de Neville, 20. 
 Thomas' " Handbook," 42. 
 Thorpe's " Diploniatarium 
 
 Anglicum," 16. 
 
 Tithe Commutation Maps, 
 
 14. 
 Toulmin Smith's "English 
 
 Guilds," 73. 
 Toulmin Smith's "Parish," 
 
 65. 
 
 Valor Ecclesiasticus, 68. 
 Village Officers, 66. 
 Viollet-le-Duc's " Military 
 Architecture," 46. 
 
 Walcott's " Sacred Archae- 
 ology," 92. 
 
 Walker's " Sufferings of the 
 Clergy," 81. 
 
 Weever's " Funerall Monu- 
 ments," 87. 
 
 Wills, 52. 
 
 Winston's " Glass Painting," 
 89. 
 
 Wood's " Athenaa," 57. 
 
 Worralls' " Bibliotheca Le- 
 gum Angliae," 35. 
 
 Worsae's " Primeval An- 
 tiquities," 44. 
 
 Wright's " Archasological 
 Essays," 44. 
 
 Wright's " Court-Hand Res- 
 tored," 43, 60. 
 
 Year Books, 34. 
 Youlgreave Parish Records, 
 64. 
 
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