Ashwell Village Museum

Resource Centre Welcome Booklet

A brief outline of the resources available at the museum and where to look for them

Getting Started Page 2

Digital Resources

Museum Community Archive Website 3

On-line Catalogue of Items in the Museum Collection 4

Picture and Photo Archive4

E-Library of Documents and Transcripts 5

Film, Video and DVD Collection 6

Printed Resources

Books7

Ashwell Parish Documents 9

Catalogue of Maps 10

Newspaper Cuttings 13

Ashwell News 13

Ashwell Yearbook 13

Parish Council Minutes 14

Registers and Documents from Other Parishes 14

Deeds 15

Ashwell Documents from Westminster Abbey 15

Local Historians’ Documents and Notes 16

Other Resources

Loan Boxes 18

Getting Started

Ashwell Village Museum is homenot only to a large collection of artefacts from Ashwell and the surrounding area, but also to a Resource Centre, which was established in 2010, partly with a generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Resource Centre is situated in the upstairs back room of the Museum.

It is open on:

-Monday evenings, from 7.00 to 9.00, and

-Thursday afternoons, from 2.00 to 5.00

Peter Greener the Curator and a group of local volunteers are there to help you at these times;

- at other times by arrangement with Peter (01462 742956)

Some of the electronic resources are available on-line. See pages 3 and 4for details. Many other resources can be accessed using the computer in the Resource Centre, as follows:

  • Use the left hand computer and click on the Museum icon.
  • In the strip of icons at the bottom left of the screen click on the second (Windows Explorer)icon from the left. It looks like a collection of little yellow folders with tabs sticking up.
  • Follow the route: Museum > Documents > Museum A > Ashwell Data

The following pages give a brief outline of all the resources available and details of how and where you can find them.

1

Digital Resources

Museum Community Archive Website

The Museum’s website provides a constantly expanding and evolving on-line community archive. From its Home Page you can follow links to the following subject areas:

  • About Us, which is the story of the Museum itself.
  • Places: including sections on Allotments, Ashwell Bury, Ashwell Quarry Nature Reserve, Fordham’s Ashwell Brewery, Church &Chapel, Individual House Histories, Pubs, Shops.
  • People: including sections on Local Biographies, Priests, Ashwell men who served in the First World War; and individual pages about Charlotte Morice, Frederick Ernest Webster, Henry Leverett and Ashwell’s first bus service, Local artist Peter Gilman, and William A Appleton who was the Secretary of the General Federation of Trades Unions.
  • Topics: including pages on Ashwell’s water history, Ashwell Scouts, Birds, Senuna (Romano-British goddess), The Auxiliary Fire Service in the 1940s, Foden wagons, The Black Death.

To visit the Museum Community Archive Website, follow the link below:

Please remember that you are encouraged to play an active part in the development of the site if you wish because you are welcome to add your own contributions and comments.

On-line Catalogue of Items in the Museum Collection

You can gain access to any items held in the museum collection through the on-line catalogue. The principal feature of the catalogue is a search engine, which will help you to follow up your own line of enquiry. Find the search box on the very top right of the home page and type in the subject you wish to study.

The catalogue also has direct links to some of the most popular and interesting items.

To use the On-line Catalogue, follow the link below:

Picture and Photo Archive

The Museum has a collection of nearly five thousand pictures and photographs. These are all accessible on-line via the On-line Catalogue.

To use the On-line Catalogue, follow the link below:

The search engine will help you to extract the picture(s) and/or photo(s) which interest you. Find the search box on the very top right of the home page and type in the name of the person, family, building, street, place or object you wish to study.

E-Library of Documents and Transcripts

A library of Ashwell data is stored electronically but not available via the website. You are welcome to see this material but you will need to use one of the computers in the upstairs Resource Centre at the Museum. The following resources are available:

  • Ashwell Documents, including:

Index of Wills 980-1981, Ashwell Hearth Tax Returns 1662-1674,

Ashwell Poll Books 1722-1832, Ashwell Militia Lists 1758-1786,

Ashwell Land Tax Returns 1780-1 and 1801-32.

  • Census returns for the parish of Ashwell, for the years:

1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891.

  • Archives and Records from Ashwell United Reformed Church, including:

General History, Finding your Ancestors in the URC Churchyard, Register of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, Roll of Church Members, List of Pastors and Ministers, Minutes, Financial Records, Seating Plan for 1935-43, Property Repairs and Refurbishments 1880-1944.

How to access the E-Library:

  • Contact the Curator, Peter Greener, 01462 742956, to arrange a visit to the Museum.
  • In the Resource Centre use the left hand computer and click on the Museum icon.
  • In the strip of icons at the bottom left of the screen click on the second (Windows Explorer)icon from the left. It looks like a collection of little yellow folders with tabs sticking up.
  • Follow the route: MuseumDocuments > E-Library of Ashwell Data.

Film, Video and DVD Collection

The Museum has a good collection, dating back to a silent, black-and-white film of the Ashwell celebrations held in honour of the coronation of King George VI in 1937

The following highlights from the collection appear on the Ashwell Flashback DVD, published in 2005:

  1. Coronation Celebration of George VI 1937
  2. Merchant Taylors’ School: plays and scything demonstration, 1938-9
  3. Sir John Newsom’s Village Film, 1948
  4. Football match: Ashwell v. Russells, 1948
  5. Children playing in Dixies Close, c.1950
  6. Ashwell Primary School goes to summer camp, 1953
  7. 100 Years On, centenary of the opening of the large classroom, Merchant Taylors’ School, 1976
  8. Ashwell Primary School Centenary Celebrations, 1978
  9. Ashwell Chronicle, a year in the life of Ashwell village, filmed 1981-5

Other items in the collection include:

Look Stranger, a television programme from the 1970s, featuring the work of the historian and local resident, John Morris

Village Show: Ashwell, a 30-minute television programme from 1994, featuring a wide range of Ashwell people and places.

The Ashwell Flashback DVD is available for purchase from the Museum at £6.

How to access the Film, Video and DVD collection:

  • Contact the Curator, Peter Greener, 01462 742956, to arrange a visit to the Museum.
  • In the Resource Centre use the left hand computer and click on the Museum icon.
  • In the strip of icons at the bottom left of the screen click on the second (Windows Explorer)icon from the left. It looks like a collection of little yellow folders with tabs sticking up.
  • Follow the route: Museum > Videos.

Printed Resources

Books

The books in the Resource Centre are all entered in the Museum’s on-line catalogue (see page 3 above for details of how to access it). You can also visit the library and use it in person. The books are shelved in the upstairs Resource Centre, at the right hand end of the room as you enter. The library contains books, booklets, documents and transcripts in the following sections:

History of Ashwell– 18 titles, including

  • Tudor Churchwardens’ Accounts, 1563-1603
  • Ashwell Parish Registers, 1604-1837
  • Accounts of the Ashwell Overseers of the Poor, 1722-69
  • Transcripts of Ashwell Documents, including Parish Registers, Local Charities, Apprenticeship Indentures, Militia Lists etc.
  • Extracts from the National Censuses for the years 1851, 1891 and 1901
  • A Different World, Ashwell before 1939, by Albert Sheldrick,

one of the founders of Ashwell Museum (c.1989)

  • Snippets of Ashwell History, by David Short (Ashwell resident) (1997)
  • Ashwell: an example of an Anglo-Saxon town, by David Short, in A County of Small Towns, Terry Slater and Nigel Goose eds. (2008)
  • The good, the bad and the absent: Merchant Taylors’ School, Ashwell, 1669-2001, by David Short, in Herts. Past and Present, 3rd series, Issue 15, Spring 2010.

cont. >

Books - continued

History of Hertfordshire – 24 titles, including

  • The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire, by Nicklaus Pevsner (1953)
  • Domesday Book, Latin and English parallel text, ed. John Morris of Ashwell (1976)
  • Biography of John Newsome, educationist and Ashwell resident,

by David Parker (2005)

General Local History and Country Life – 75 titles,

including some on object history and identification

Care and Conservation of Historical Objects – 13 titles

Learned Journals and Papers– 50 titles,

including the East Hertfordshire Archaeological Transactions 1899-1949

Hertfordshire County Records Sessions Books – 5 volumes of legal cases,

covering the years 1619-1840

History of Hitchin – 3 volumes by Reginald Hine (c.1927),

donated by the author

Letchworth - by Mervyn Miller (Ashwell resident), (2nd edn.2002)

The Age of Arthur – by John Morris (Ashwell resident), (1973)

Flora of Hertfordshire – by Trevor James (Ashwell resident), (2009)

Older Books in the Museum LibraryCollection– 60 further titles,

mostly published before 1939 and covering a range of subjects.

Ashwell Parish Documents

The Museum holds transcripts and photocopies of other historic Parish Documents, which are not yet available on-line but can be studied in the upstairs Resource Centre at the Museum. These documents were donated by the Ashwell Field Studies Centre when it closed in 1999.

They include:

  • Names of Ashwell Churchwardens, 1562-1747.
  • Ashwell Churchwardens' Accounts, 1563-1746, transcripts.
  • Ashwell Churchwardens' Charity Accounts, 1719-1809, transcripts.
  • Ashwell Parish Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1604-1837,

transcripts.

  • Alphabetical Index of Surnames featured in the above, 1604-1837.
  • Ashwell Friends' (Quaker) Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials,

1716-1837, transcripts.

  • Ashwell Independent Meeting HouseRegisters of baptisms, marriages

and burials, 1796-1837, transcripts.

  • Ashwell Terriers (land ownership documents), various, 1618-1812,

transcripts and photocopies.

  • Names of Ashwell Parish Constables, 1661-1741.
  • Ashwell Parish Constables' Accounts, 1661-1741, transcripts.
  • Names of the Ashwell Overseers of the Poor, 1676-1810.
  • Accounts of the Ashwell Overseers of the Poor, 1677-1783,

transcripts and photocopies.

  • Ashwell Settlement Certificates, 1702-1794, list and some photocopies.
  • Ashwell Apprenticeship Indentures, 1726-1862,

transcripts and photocopies.

  • Ashwell Vestry Minutes, 1831-91, abstract.

These documents are stored in the upstairs Resource Centre of the Museum, in box files on the shelves to the left of the door as you go into the room.

Catalogue of Maps and Plans

These are not yet available electronically but can been studied on site.

Unless otherwise stated they are kept in Plan Drawer 6 in the downstairs store at the Museum.

Catalogue and maps arranged in chronological order. The map numbers are written on the top right hand corners of the map undersides.

Map no. / Publisher / Date / Scale / Official Title / Area Covered
1 / Wm Faden / 1782 / Topographical map / Ashwell, Hinxworth, Bigrave (sic), Odsey, Royston, Barley &c.
2 / anon. / 1841 / 1:10,560 / Ashwell Parish Map / Ashwell Parish, naming old open fields.
3 / anon. / 1841 / (Detail of above)
4 / anon. / 1841 / (Detail of above) / Quarry Field, Little Field and North Field (old open fields).
5 / anon. / 1841 / Ashwell Town Area / Centre of Ashwell, pre-great fire, extending N. to the Bury.
6 / anon. / 1841 / (Detail of Parish Map above) / Showing southern end of ancient enclosed fields in detail.
7 / anon. / 1841 / (Detail of Parish Map above) / Showing northern end of ancient enclosed fields in detail.
8 / ? / early 19th c? / 1:25,000? / untitled / Biggleswade, Edworth, Hinxworth, Ashwell, Newnham &c.
9 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:10,560 / Herts. Sheets I and IV / Eastern half of whole of Ashwell parish.
10 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:10,560 / Herts.Sheet VIII (pt.) / Bygrave, Wallington, Roe Green, Gannock, Redhill.
11 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet II.13 / Mobbs Hole, Mobbs Hole Farm.
12 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheets III.3 & III.4 / Barrowsford Bridge.
13 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet III.8 / Bluegates Farm, Ashwell End, Bury End Hinxworth.
14 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet III.12 / Hinxworth Place, The Cuckoo, The Quarry, Arbury Banks.
15 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet III.16 / Newnham.
16 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.1 / Northfields Road, Kirby Manor Farm.
17 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 / Elbrook, The Bury, Brewery, Mill.
18 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 (pt.) / Western half of the above.
19 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 (pt.) / Western half of the above.
20 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 (pt.) / Eastern half of the above.
21 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 (pt.) / Eastern half of the above.
22 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.9 (pt.) / Station Rd, Redlands, The Fox, The Sinks (sic).
23 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.9 (pt.) / Station Rd, Redlands, The Fox, The Sinks (sic).
24 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.10 / Odsey.
25 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.13 / The Knoll, Pembroke Fm, Slip End, Highley Hill.
26 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.14 (pt.) / Hare & Hounds (Slip End), Deadman's Hill.
27 / O.S. / 1877 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet VIII.1 / Bygrave and Hare Park.
28 / Gall&Inglis / late19th c? / Hertfordshire / Road and railway map.
29 / O.S. / 1882 / 1:2,500 / untitled / Ashwell Village.
30 / O.S. / c. 1890 / 1:2,500 / untitled / Ashwell Village.
31 / O.S. / 1898 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 (pt.) / Elbrook, The Bury, Brewery, Mill, Cold Harbour (sic).
32 / O.S. / 1898 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 (pt.) / Mordens Road, Ruddery Spring, Roman Cemetery.
33 / O.S. / 1898 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.9 (pt.) / Ashwell Village, Claybush Hill.
34 / O.S. / 1898 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.9 (pt.) / Station Rd, Redlands, The Fox, The Sinks (sic).
35 / O.S. / 1903 / 1:2,500 / untitled / Ashwell Village.
36 / O.S. / 1906 / 1:63,360 / Sheet 204 / Biggleswade, Sandy, Potton, Royston, Ashwell, Hinxworth.
37 / O.S.based / 1924 / ? / Ashwell in 1924 / Shops/Pubs numbered/lettered in red on map; named in key.
38 / O.S.based / 1924 / ? / Ashwell in 1924 / Shops/Pubs numbered/lettered on map; named in key.
39 / O.S. / 1924 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 (pt.) / Elbrook, The Bury, Brewery, Mill, Cold Harbour, Burial Ground.
40 / O.S. / 1924 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.5 (pt.) / Morden Road, Ruddery Spring, Baldwins Corner.
41 / O.S. / 1924 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.9 (pt.) / Station Rd, Redlands, The Fox, The Sinks (sic).
42 / O.S. / 1924 / 1:2,500 / Herts. Sheet IV.9 (pt.) / Ashwell Village, Claybush Hill.
43 / O.S. / 1925 / 1:10,650 / Herts.IV NW / Ashwell Bury, Elbrook, Coldharbour, Steeple Morden
44 / O.S. / 1925 / 1:10,650 / Herts.IV SW / Ashwell and Odsey.
45 / O.S. / 1929 / 1:63,360 / Sheet 85 / Cambridge, Ashwell, Newmarket and Saffron Walden.
46 / Bacon&Co / 1931 / Map of Hertfordshire
47 / O.S. / 1947 / 1:10,650 / Herts.II SW / Mobb's Hole, Guilden Morden, Abington Pigotts.
48 / O.S. / 1947 / 1:10,650 / Herts.IV SW / Ashwell and Odsey.
49 / O.S. / 1947 / 1:10,650 / Herts.IV SW / Ashwell and Odsey.
50 / O.S. / 1947 / 1:10,650 / Herts.VIII NW / Bygrave and Wallington; includes Hare Park.
51 / O.S. / 1947 / 1:10,650 / Herts.VIII NW / Bygrave and Wallington; includes Hare Park.
52 / O.S. / 1948 / 1:10,650 / Herts.III NE / Ashwell End, Hinxworth and Edworth.
53 / O.S. / 1950 / 1:10,650 / Herts.IV NW / Ashwell Bury, Elbrook, Coldharbour, Steeple Morden
54 / O.S. / 1950 / 1:10,560 / Herts.III SE / Newnham and Caldecote.
55 / O.S. / 1956 / 1:25,000 / Sheet TL23 / Letchworth, Baldock, Ashwell Village etc.
56 / O.S. / 1959 / 1:10,560 / Sheet TL24SE / Ashwell Bury, Ashwell End, Elbrook, Mordens.
57 / O.S. / 1959 / 1:10,560 / Sheet TL24SW / Hinxworth, Edworth and Dunton.
58 / O.S. / 1961 / 1:25,000 / Sheet TL23 / Letchworth, Baldock, Ashwell Village etc.
59 / O.S. / 1964 / 1:25,000 / Sheet TL24 / Ashwell Bury, Ashwell End, Elbrook, Hinxworth, Eyeworth etc.
60 / O.S. / 1967 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2438 and 2538 / Newnham Hill.
61 / O.S. / 1967 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2439 and 2539 / Hinxworth Rd, Quarry (Nature Reserve), Love Lane, The Cuckoo.
62 / HCC / 1967 / 1:1,250 / Conservation Area / Eastern section - Forester's Cottages to War Memorial.
63 / HCC / 1967 / !:1,250 / Conservation Area / Western section - West End to Vine Cottage.
64 / O.S. / 1968 / 1:25,000 / Sheet TL23 / Letchworth, Baldock, Ashwell Village etc.
65 / O.S. / 1968 / 1:10,000 / Sheet TL23NW / Newnham, Radwell, Caldecote, Stotfold, Astwick, &c.
66 / O.S. / 1969 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2437 and 2537 / Newnham.
67 / O.S. / 1970 / 1:10,560 / Sheet TL23NE / Ashwell, Odsey, Bygrave.
68 / O.S. / 1973 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2443-2543 / Fields between Dunton Lodge and Eyeworth Lodge.
69 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2440-2540 / Ashwell End, Bluegates Farm, Love Lane, Bury End (Hinxworth).
70 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2441-2541 / Barrowsford Bridge.
71 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2442-2542 / Dunton Lodge.
72 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2636-2736 / Bygrave.
73 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2637-2737 / The Knoll, Cat Ditch, Pembroke Farm.
74 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2640-2740 / Ashwell Bury, Dairy, Elbrook, Burial Ground.
75 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2641-2741 / Coldharbour, Northfields Road.
76 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2642-2742 / Northfields, Kirby's Manor Farm, Highfield Farm (Guilden).
77 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2643-2743 / Mobb's Hole, Mobb's Hole Farm, Guilden Morden.
78 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2644-2744 / Three county point, Dubbs Knoll (Guilden).
79 / O.S. / 1974 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2837-2937 / Slip End, Highley Hill, Odsey Park (part of).
80 / O.S. / 1975 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2638-2738 / Arbury Banks, Claybush Hill.
81 / O.S. / 1975 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2639-2739 / Ashwell Village.
82 / O.S. / 1975 / 1:2,500 / Plan TL2839-2939 / Half Acre, Redlands, The Fox, The Cinques, &c.
83 / NHDC / 1980 / 1:10,000 / Ashwell Parish Map / Also Hinxworth, Newnham, Caldecote, Radwell and Odsey.
84 / O.S. / 1983 / 1:10,000 / Sheet TL23NE / Ashwell, Odsey, Bygrave.
85 / n/a / 2000 / ? / Ashwell Farmyards 1900 / Farmyards named and highlighted.
86 / n/a / 2000 / ? / Ashwell Farmyards 2000 / Farmyards named and highlighted.
The following maps and plans are located in the numbered archive boxes or plan chest drawers in the downstairs store, as indicated.
Box / Accession No. / Date / Scale / Official Title / Area Covered
Archive 27 / 2007.10. / 1834 / 1:63,360 / Sheet 62 Woburn / Stony Stratford to Ashwell (N); Aylesbury to Hertingfordbury (S).
Archive 10 / 1946.22.1 / 1916 / ? / Map of Ashwell / Ashwell Parish.
Lgp 12 / 1995.119 / 1929 / Plan of Highway / Plan of former road between Hodwell and Springhead.
Archive 27 / 2005.71.2 / 2000 / Parish Bounds / Ashwell Parish, with emphasis on parish boundaries.
Plan Chest 1 / 1994.224.1 / 1912 / 1:0,240 / Arbury Banks / Sections through Arbury Banks.
Plan Chest 1 / 1994.224.2 / 1912 / 1:0,240 / Arbury Banks / Plan of Arbury Banks.

Newspaper Cuttings

The Museum has a collection of newspaper cuttings and transcripts referring to Ashwell. The earliest is an article from the Royston Crow, dated 1876. It records the proceedings of the Ashwell School Board, meeting to discuss the tenders for building what is now Ashwell Primary School. At present the collection of cuttings ends in the year 2000. These transcripts and cuttings are not yet available on-line but can be studied in the upstairs Resource Centre at the Museum. They are stored in box files on the shelves to the right of the door as you go into the room.

In addition there is a collection of 39 scrapbooks covering the years 1966 to 2002. They contain interesting local newspaper cuttings referring to Ashwell and the surrounding area. They were compiled by Alan Picking, for many years the caretaker at Ashwell Primary School. These scrapbooks are not available on-line but can be studied in the upstairs Resource Centre at the Museum. They are stored in box files on the shelves at the left-hand side as you go into the room.

Ashwell News

Ashwell News is the title of the parish magazine. The Museum holds copies of every edition since 1967 and the collection is kept continuously up to date. The Ashwell News is not available on-line but can be studied in the upstairs Resource Centre at the Museum. Copies are stored in box files on the shelves to the right of the door as you go in.

Ashwell Yearbook

The Parish Council has published an annual Ashwell Yearbook every March since 1989. The Yearbookcontains the details of the annual Parish Meetings, reports from all local organisations and articles of interest about Ashwell residents, including baptisms, marriages and deaths within the parish.

The Ashwell Yearbooks are not available on-line but can be studied in the upstairs Resource Centre at the Museum. Copies are stored in box files on the shelves to the right of the door as you go in.