Buntingford
by Sir Henry Chauncy Vol I pages 260 to 263 first published in 1700
they shall have such Clerks to celebrate Divine Service there, who shall be conformable in their Faith, or shall be deputed by the Bishop. And Anno 1626 the Bishop of London granted a License to celebrate Divine Service, by a fit Priest, in this Chapel; which Power Justinian the Emperor granted to Bishops.
In this Chapel lies a Stone thus engraved.
Novissimae sub hoc Marmore sonitum Tubae opperiuntur Erubiae Alexandri
Strange, Theologia Baccalaurei hujusq; Parochiae nuper Vicarii. Qui
cum 46 annos in populo erudiendo paceq; inter litigantes concilianda consumpsisset. Cumq; inter alia pia molimina. Hoc Dei Domicilium, instaurari currasset 8 Decemb. 80 aetat. anno Nato Domino
1550 Caelebs occubuit
Moerens posuit J.M.
This Alexander Strange was the Son of a Doctor in Law, born in London, educated in Peter House in Cambridge, where he commenced Bachelor in Divinity; afterwards was Vicar of this Parish for six and forty Years, and a Prebendary of St. Paul, London. He built this Chapel in this Town by the Bounty of his Friends and Neighbours ; after he laid the Foundation, and before he finisht it, he gave for his motto, Begg hard, or beggard.
Which Building he undertook, because the Parish Church stood alone, some Distance from the Town, which was a great Inconvenience to the Inhabitants thereof.
An Inscription upon another Stone.
Johannes Turner Vicar de
Layston,
Natus primo Martii 1603
Quem annum aetatis agens
Obiit loquitur sepultus.
Acts of PIETY and CHARITY.
Alexander Strange, Vicar of Layston. by Deed dated 26 Jan. 1 Car. I.
gave one Acre of Land in Layston. to the use of the Vicar for reading Divine Service, and preaching yearly a Sermon, on the Monday after the Feast of St. Michael for ever. And by another Deed dated 22 July, 1642, he gave eight Acres and an half, lying in Great Hormead and Layston, towards the Repair of this Chapel.
William Brown of Layston, Locksmith, by Deed dated the 20th of November, 1626, gave half an Acre of Land in Layston, to Trustees for the payment of 3l. yearly to the repair of the Windows in the Chapel.
Henry Marshal and Thomas Adams, granted five Acres and an half of Land in Layston, Throcking, and Widiall, to the use of the Poor in Buntingford for ever
Sir John Watts, Knight, granted one Annuity of 4l. per An. out of a Messuage and Close of Pasture in Buntingford, to the use of the Poor of this Town for ever.
John Crowch of Alswick, Gent, gave 5l. per An. payable out of five Tenements in Layston, to 12 poor People in Buntingford.
The Lady Jane Barkham gave 100l. the Rent thereof, to be paid to the Schoolmaster of the Grammar-School in Buntingford, for the teaching of five poor Children there.
Seth Ward, Bishop of Salisbury, erected a fair Building near the Chapel in this Town, containing eight Mansions, every Mansion four Rooms,
whereof two above Stairs and two below; and endowed it with Land to the yearly Value of ..... constituting Ralph Freman, Esq. Sir William Fitch, Knight, Seth Ward, Chancellor of Salisbury, William Freman, Peter Soame, Charles Crowch, Thomas Stone, Esq. and their Heirs, Trustees to elect and maintain there four poor Men, and four poor Women, (who had lived handsomely, and by Misfortune had fallen to Poverty) to be chosen from time to time by the Trustees out of the Parishes of Aspeden and Layston: and if three of the Trustees should happen to die, the surviving Trustees should choose three others in their Places to fill up the Number.
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