Barkway, Hertfordshire Family History Guide
Barkway is an Ancient Parish in the county of Hertfordshire.
Other places in the parish include: Nuthampstead and Newsells.
Alternative names:
Parish church: St. Mary Magdalene
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1538
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1800
Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
- Wyddial
- Royston, Cambridgeshire
- Melbourn, Cambridgeshire
- Anstey
- Reed
- Buckland
- Langley, Essex
- Barley
- Meesden
- Chrishall, Essex
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BARKWAY, a small own and a parish in Royston district, Herts.
The town stands on a rising-ground, near the sources of the Quin river, 4½ miles SSE of Royston r. station. It has a post-office under Royston; was formerly a market town; has still a fair on 20 July; and, prior to the railway times, was a great thoroughfare on the northern road from London.
It consists principally of one street; and most of its houses are modern Pop., 940. Houses, 195. The parish includes also the hamlets of Newsells and Nuthampstead. Acres, 5,060. Real property, £7,057. Pop., 1,221. Houses, 251. The property is divided among a few. The manor be longed to the Chesters and the Jenningses
The living is a vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Reed, in the diocese of Rochester. The church is an ancient structure, and was recently restored, and the tower rebuilt.
There are an Independent chapel, a reading room, a national school, and charities £63.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
BARKWAY (St. Mary Magdalene), a town and parish, in the union of Royston, hundred of Edwinstree, county of Hertford, 4 miles (S. S. E.) from Royston, 13¾ miles (N. N. E.) from Hertford, and 35 (N.) from London, on the road to Cambridge; containing, with the hamlets of Newsells and Nuthampstead, 1291 inhabitants.
In the reign of Henry III. a grant of a market now disused, and of a fair which is still held on July 20th, was obtained for this place.
Nearly the whole town was destroyed by fire in the reign of Elizabeth, and again in 1748.
It is pleasantly situated on rising ground, and consists principally of one street: the houses in general are modern and neatly built, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water.
The parish comprises chiefly arable land, with a large extent of wood, and a small portion of pasture. The living is a vicarage, consolidated in 1800 with the rectory of Reed, and valued in the king’s books at £14; the impropriation belongs to Mrs. Vernon Harcourt: the tithes were commuted for land in 1801. The church is a spacious structure combining various styles, with a square embattled tower.
There is a place of worship for Independents; and a charity school for boys has an endowment of £10 per annum.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Administration
- County: Hertfordshire
- Civil Registration District: Royston
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Middlesex (Essex and Hertfordshire Division)
- Diocese: Post-1844 – Rochester, Pre-1845 – London
- Rural Deanery: Pre-1845 – Braughing, Post-1844 – Buntingford
- Poor Law Union: Royston
- Hundred: Edwinstree
- Province: Canterbury