1481 Vicar John Hawthorne was reported as being 'a common player, and daily played le penny pricke and Bowles' Admonished to amend his ways under penalty of 12d.
Le penny pricke was a game where a piece of iron was thrown at pennies balanced on poles.
1528 The vicar was presented for not scouring his ditch lying in 'le Cherchelane next Totehyll'
A toothill is usually accepted as meaning a meeting place and might well have been the field on the opposite side of church lane from the vicarage.
From this time onwards the records show a succession of careful men doing their duty by both parish and God. In 1539 vicar Robert Rosslyn started the baptism, marriage and burial registers in accordance with the edict of the government in 1538. The originals have not survived but there is a careful copy made in 1611. A few years before this in 1604 the church wardens presentment at the Bishop's visitation is able to say that all is well in the parish.
Vicar Richard Pooley, (1626-1641), wrote the first surviving terrier in 1638 in which he says that the church possesses no glebe. However although the church owned no land Richard Pooley did manage to negotiate the use of 5 acres in the Town field in consideration of his constant repair of the fences and stiles of the churchyard. In modern times this has been replaced by a money payment from the Parish Council.
In 1668, after the restoration of the monarchy the Reverend John Pyke BA (1668-1731) came to Weston. He was a conscientious and literate man and faithfully protected the interests of the church. He was only entitled to the lesser tithes but these he recorded in 1683.
"1683. offering in one year sevenpence, the next year eightpence for an house-keeper and for a single person 16 years of age, twopence for milk or whittage, fivepence a cow, for a calf if sold a shilling, if killed a shilling or leg or loine, if weaned an half-penny. For a lamb either in kinde or a groate for every lamb, for wool either in kinde or twopence a sheep. Eggs two for a hen, duck or turkey. One for a pullit and three for every cocke or drake. For a pig either a shilling or one in kinde if there be seven. Hony the tenth quantity as also of apples and apricots. Pigeons either the tenth pigeon or tenth penny, if not compounded for ye dovehouse. "For the tythe of the vineyard either in kinde or six shillings and eightpence per annum."
It would be interesting to know whether he actually received such items as apricocks' or the 'fruits of the vineyard'. One of the fields near the church is still known as the vineyard, but there are no traces of vines. In 1698 he was paid felled by George Smith. In 1683 he also recorded the church fees.
"Perquisites,. ffor churching a woman sixpence, for a buryall in the churchyard without a coffin, one shilling, and if the party tooke alms the parish paid it, For a buryall in the churchyard with a coffin two shillings. For a buryall in the church six shillings and eightpence. For a buryall in the chancel ten shillings. For a funeral sermon ten shillings."
The vicarage seems to have been essentially in the position that it is today. John Pyke describes it at the Bishop of Lincoln's visitation in 1706;
"1706. Copy of Terriar given to the Bishop of Lincoln, 17 August. The Vicarage house, on the south side two gardens, on the north side an orchard, or backside on the west a yard and therin one barn and a stable. Ther is noe glebe therto belonging that we know of."
Three years later the vicar realised that his 5 acre allotment from the -Townsmen had been omitted from the church-warden's account of the church for the Bishop and so he made a meticulous entry in the register to that effect.
"1709. At the visitation of the Bishop of Lincoln, I delivered a true and perfect terriar of the Vicaridj or Weston with my hand subscribed therto. And one of the church-wardens delivered in another terriar with his hand and some other subscribed which was imperfect not having the following clause wholly in it:- "The other fences of the churchyard are repaired by the Vicar for and in consideration of five acres of arable land, which have been time out of mind in the possession of the Vicars of Weston successively, and have been more than forty years in the possession of the said Vicar, four of which acres of land lay in Lannockfield and Townfield and are now in the tenure and occupation of Henry Blacknoe, and one acre therof lays in Moonhow field (lately taken in) and lyes under hedge, next the plowed close of Mr. Waters and in the tenure of George Everitt but the acre of land is in the tenure of Henry Shutbolt."
The Reverend John Pyke not only had to re-establish the formalities of the Church of England after the Restoration he also had to deal with the nonconformists in his parish. In 1675 five of the villagers were indicted for 'assembling at a meeting house in Baldock'. Mr. Pyke seems to have been a merciful man and gave certificates even in doubtful cases, thus he reported to the justices:-
'William Ferguson is a man of quiet and peacable conversation and sincerely conformable to the Church of England'.
In 1696 the first certificate for Protestant Dissenters was granted in Weston and two years later the first baptism was performed by hands other than those of the parish priest.
" 1698. September 12. Daniel the son of George Everitt (labourer) was born upon the ninth day of September 1698 and baptized in John Ffarrow, the Miller's house, by one Killingworth, formerly of Cayston in the county of Huntingdon, a fustian weaver, upon the twelfe day of the same month, this being the first Dissenter's child that ever was know to be baptized in Weston."
Tolerant in some ways John Pyke may have been but he was quite prepared to seek the protection of the law to preserve the peace of Sundays. In 1668 George Wright had to be 'suppressed from keeping an ale house for that he suffered disorder and tippling during the time of Divine Service'. In 1731 the time of the Reverend John Pyke ended. He had looked after his flock for 63 years and his going must have marked the end of an era in the village.
However, another was to begin immediately. The next incumbent, the Reverend Joseph Read (I 731-1788) also found Weston a congenial place. Not only did he buy property in the village but he stayed 57 years until his death in 1788. He did leave one hint though. that life might sometimes be hard for the vicar of Weston. He directed in his will that the rents and profits from his lands and tenements in the village should go towards 'the augmentation of the vicarage of this place'.
After Joseph Read's passing there was a series of seven vicars who staved only
for short periods. Then in 1837 the Reverend Benjamin Donne MA (i 837-1864) was
given the living by the patron, William Hale of Kings Walden. Here, for the first time
the vicar's wife made an appearance in the records. Margaret Donne must have been
both a generous and well educated woman. After only six years she gave a silver cup to
the church which is still in use. It was made to match an existing one of the seventeenth
century and was
inscribed:-
the gift of Margaret Donne. 1843.
She was a member of the Hitchin and Baldock Branch of the Society for the Propagation of he Gospel and when it was wound up on October 18th, 1861 she wrote a long poem which included these lines:-
Now, at Baldock and Stevenage and everywhere round,
Parochial S.P.G.'s are rife;
All these as our children we claim: on the ground
That none else can have called them to life.
But what often occurs in the work-a-day world
has now happened to us, we confess;
As the children have grown, so the parent's been hurled
From his throne, to become less and less.
While Margaret Donne was attending meetings her husband Benjamin was rebuilding the vicarage and the chancel of the church. For the former he had to mortgage the glebe land (acquired in lieu of tithes at enclosure in 1797), for 35 years to receive £707. At the same time he was not neglecting his Sunday duties for he bought a new pulpit in 1840. It was also during his time that the Weston National School was built in 1854 and it must have given great pleasure to the man who worked so hard for his parish for 27 years. His portrait forms the first of the series of vicars which hangs inside the church.
'The next vicar to stay for any length of time, the Reverend Acton Butt (1871-1891), seems not only to have had trouble maintaining the church financially but also to have had parishioners who were eager to make changes. He had to appeal to his Bishop for support. At the Easter Vestrey (a general meeting of parishioners) held on the 29th May 1879 in the school, Marlborough Pryor was in the chair. A resolution was passed that 'the general offertory be used for 6 months' to meet the church expenses. The resolution was passed although Mr Pryor had second thoughts later. However, the bishop said the resolution must be carried through and 'time will prove whether it can be maintained' and indeed time has maintained it to the present day. At the same meeting seven parishioners recommended to Mr Butt that 'the use of surplices for the choir should be discontinued'. This, the Bishop felt would be a 'discourteous act' and he agreed to meet the vicar on' Friday at 12 o'clock'. The end of the episode was not recorded but surplices are still in use today.
The Reverend Acton Butt was followed by two short stay incumbents and then byAlfred Willway B.A. (1902-1920). Mr Willway was beset by a number of problems and he liked to consult his patron about these by letter. His income (£150 p.a.) was insufficient to meet his needs and although he applied in 1909 for a £50 augmentation and wrote frequently to his patron (Mr Malborough Pryor), this was not fully met until 1925, several years after he had left. In the same year (1909) water was laid on to the vicarage and Mr Pryor wrote that he hoped the increase would at any rate cover the impending water rate and 'I am afraid that it will be some time before the water works are complete but I hope they will be of real benefit when they are'.
The Reverend Willway also took care of the other financial interests of the church, making sure that the insurances were always paid and that the school income was wisely invested. In one of his letters Mr Pryor makes it quite clear that Mr WillWay's devotion to his church has not gone unnoticed and this extract finally sums up the total qualities of the Vicars of Weston.
"I was impressed by the service and sermon that morning .....appreciate the great effort made by you"