was of a circular form, about two feet in diameter, and had been closed by a mill-stone, which was accidentally discovered in August, 1742, by driving a post into the ground, as the foundation of a bench for the market-women. The aperture, or descent, had holes for the feet cut into the chalk on each side; but as the lower part of the crypt was found to be filled with loose earth and rubbish, this passage was quickly enlarged, that the interior might be cleared with more celerity, the curiosity of the towns-people being strongly excited by the hopes of discovering some hidden treasure. About two hundred loads of earth were drawn out before the cavity was entirely cleared; but the zeal of the labourers was repaid only by the finding of a skull, and other human bones, for the most part very much decayed, The interior of this very curious, and probably unique, subterraneous apartment, is completely circular, finishing in a kind of dome above, broken only by the original entrance. Round the lower part of the sides is a series of rude carvings of the Crucifixion, St. Christopher, St. Catherine, St. Lawrence, and various other subjects in sacred and prophane history. These are supposed, by Dr. Stukeley, to have been cut by the Lady Roisia, whom he imagines to have had this place made as an Oratory and Burial-Chapel for herself; and that the skull, and other bones, found here, were really her remains. These opinions, which the Doctor supported in a quarto pamphlet, were controverted with some success by the Rev. C. Parkyn, who maintained, with Dugdale and Leland, that the Lady Roisia was buried in the Chapterhouse at Chicksand, in Bedfordshire; a Priory of her own foundation, and to which she retired in the latter part of her life; and that this cell, or crypt, was a Hermitage long before Roisia was born, and that it continued so long after her death. This occasioned an elaborate reply from Dr. Stukeley, in which he detailed many curious particulars of the family of the Lady Roisia, and supported his former conjectures by a more full description of the events which he imagined to have been recorded by her in the carvings round the sides of the cell. His antagonist rejoined; and though the dispute was carried on with much acrimony, the re spective spective pamphlets are worthy of perusal, from the variety of curious and interesting matter which they contain. The bottom of the crypt is surrounded by a raised seat about one foot high, and between two and three wide, but divided on the east side by a hollow place, called the Grave. The present entrance is by a regular descent, or passage, formed in the chalk from an adjacent house, and nearly one hundred yards in length. The diameter of the crypt is about twenty-five feet; its height between thirty and forty. Royston Church consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a low tower, embrasured, as are the other parts of this fabric. Before the altar is a slab, inlaid with a Brass, representing a cross, with the five wounds. In the north aisle, by the west door, was a Brass of a Priest, on a slab, with this inscription: Hie Jacct Robtus White quondam Prior isti' loci qui obijt Several other slabs, formerly inlaid, are in this Church, but the Brasses are mostly gone. Here is also an ancient figure of a Knight, with his head resting on a cushion, and his hands closed as in prayer. This is said to have been brought from the Priory, and to represent one of the Lords Scales: but Salmon supposes it to be intended rather for Eustace de Merc, or his nephew, Ralph de Rovecester. The number of houses in this parish, according to the late returns, was 206; that of inhabitants, 975: the houses are principally of brick, and the streets are narrow. The Royston Crow is described by Pennant as a bird of passage, coming into England about the beginning of winter, and leaving it with the woodcocks. These crows are very plentiful on the Chalk Downs in this neighbourhood; and also in other similar open situations in different parts of the kingdom: they breed in Sweden, in the south parts of Germany, and on the Danube. The head, the under part of the neck, and the wings, are black, glossed over with a fine blue; the breast, belly, and back, are of a pale ash color: the bottoms of the M 4 toes toes are broad and flat, the better to enable them to walk on marshy grounds.* NEWCELLS, or NEWSELLS, called Neusela in the Domesday Book, a manor in the Parish of Barkway, was, at the time of the Conqueror's Survey, held by Eudo Dapifer, from whom it passed in the same manner as Barkway, through the Lords Scales, and other noble families, to the Chesters, who sold it to William Newland, Esq. It was afterwards purchased by Sir John Jennings, Knt, whose son and heir, George Jennings, Esq. dying about fifteen years ago, it was conveyed by the marriage of Esther, his only daughter and heiress, to the Hon. John Peachey, son and heir-apparent to James, Lord Selsea, who is the present possessor. In a chalk-pit in ROCKLEY WOOD, was found, in the year 1743, a brass figure of Mars, with a brass handle, and seven thin plates, having a figure of Vulcan engraven on two of them, and on each of the others, a Mars: on two of the latter were also the following inscriptions: MARTI TI CLAVDIVS. PRIMVS ATTII LIBER V. S. L. M. D. MARTI. ALATOR. DVM. CENSORINVS GEMELLI FIL. The word Alatorum was referred by Mr. Ward, who communicated an account of the discovery to the Royal Society, to the Castra Alata, of Ptolemy, or Edinburgh; and he supposed the plates to have been ornaments on a shrine of Mars about the time of Dioclesian.t COCKEN Zoology, Vol. I. p. 169, 8vo. Vol. I. p. 191, 4to. + Gough, from Phil. Trans. No. 343. COCKEN-HATCH, a manor adjoining to Newcells, is thought to have derived its name from a Saxon, named Cockenach, who possessed it before the Conquest. Eustace de Merc gave it to the Priory of Royston; and it passed with that foundation to Robert Chester, Esq. in the time of Henry the Eighth, and became the principal seat of his family. It was afterwards the seat of Sir William Chapman, Bart. and on the death of his widow, the late Lady Chapman, was bequeathed by her to the Lady of Sir Francis Wills, who now possesses it. The Mansion is rather a singular structure, but not unhandsome; it stands in a pleasant Park. The Manor of BARKWAY formed part of the estate of Eustace de Merc, and afterwards of Robert de Rovecester, from whose family it passed by an heiress, named Alice, who married Robert D'Escalers, or Scales, about the time of King John. Their son, Robert, obtained a grant of a weekly market, and a six days' annual fair, for this manor, in the reign of Henry the Third, Robert D'Escalers, his son and successor, was a renowned warrior in the time of Edward the First, who granted him lands to the yearly value of 300 marks, for his services in Scotland, and summoned him as a Baron to Parliament. His family continued to flourish, and had frequent summonses to Parliament, till the time of Henry the Sixth, when Elizabeth, married to Henry Bouchier, second son of Henry, Earl of Essex, was left heiress. Her second husband was Anthony Widville, son of Earl Rivers, who was constituted Lord Scales on his marriage, and succeeded his father in the Earldom in the ninth of Edward the Fourth. On his tragical death, Richard the Third granted this manor to the Duke of Norfolk, who fell in the battle of Bosworth Field; and his estates were seized by Henry the Seventh. Barkway, with some other pos sessions of the Earls Rivers, were restored to the Countess Elizabeth; but on failure of issue, reverted to the heirs of the Lords Scales, who were found to be John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and Sir William Tindal. On a partition, Barkway and Newcells were allotted to the former; and his heirs continued owners till about the conclusion of the reign of Henry the Eighth; in the time of whose daughter, Queen Mary, Sir John Peters was possessor. He sold them to Henry Prannel, Esq. an Alderman of London; and his son, son, Henry, married to Frances, daughter of Lord Viscount Bindon, procured a new charter for a market, and a three days' fair, for his Manor of Barkway, from Queen Elizabeth. This was granted in consideration of the loss he had sustained by the whole town having been nearly destroyed by fire, and which appears, from Norden, to have so affected him, as to occasion his death. His heirs sold Barkway to the Chester family, who retained it till the middle of the last century. It is now the property of the Hon. John Selsea, who derived it from his marriage with the heiress of the Jennings family. Barkway Church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen, and contains various monuments and inscriptions for the Chesters; together with many ancient slabs, formerly inlaid with Brasses, scarcely any of which are now remaining. Some fragments of a series of representations of the Creation, in painted glass, remain in the windows of the north aisle; with arms, and other figures. The market has been disused many years. The inhabitants of Barkway, as returned under the Act of 1800, amounted to 699; the houses to 147. ANSTEY, or ANSTIE, called Anestige in the Domesday Book, is supposed, by Salmon, to derive its name from the Ermin Street, which he imagines to have run through this parish, and to have been called Heanstige, the High-way, by the Saxons, in token of pre-eminence. This manor was given by the Conqueror to Eustace, Earl of Boulogne, who is represented to have built a CASTLE here, by the King's command, for the purpose of intimidating the English. Some additional out-works were made during the Barons' wars, in the reign of King John; but these were afterwards demolished, by order of Henry the Third, by Nicholas, surnamed De Anstie; and the materials are said to have been employed by Richard de Anstie in the erection of the Church. In the reign of Edward the First, Dionise de Monte Caviso died possessed of this Manor and Castle; but in the next reign they became the property of the Crown, but in what manner does not clearly appear, having previously belonged to Audomare de Valentia, Earl of Pembroke, to whose widow, Mary de St. Paul, daughter of Guy de Chatillon, they were granted by Edward the Second during her life. Ed ward |