Reference
P16/5/1
Title
Churchwardens account book (income & expenditure)
Date free text
1743 - 1841
Production date
From: 1743 To: 1841
Scope and Content
Routine payments: cleaning, visitation and confirmation expenses, repairs to churchyard fences, minor repairs to church, Clerk's salary, purchase of Communion bread and wine, bell ropes, vermin payments (sparrows and eggs, hedgehogs) clock repairs, briefs, parchment for register transcripts, glazing, Court fees, washing surplices, payments for Town Meetings, regular payments to bell-ringers for 5 November, for reading prayers on Good Friday, for drawing up accounts, Election of Churchwardens and passing of accounts.
Occasional expenditure includes:
1743: To bell-founder work on bells, carrying up and down 8s.
Bell-founder casting bells £26 19s. [Thomas Russell of Wootton]
Mr. Medcraft and Mr. Burr went 'to way' the bells at Wootten 3s.
1753: Painting the pulpit, Mr. Hospool, £1 1s. 0d.
Cloth for pulpit £4 3d.
1754-5: Black cloth for town burials £1
2 Napkins 4s.
1765 Church Bible £1 10s
1770 Gravel to Churchyard 12s.
1771 4 locks for Town Chest 5s. 4d.
1771 "At Tingrith at Possessioning" 8s. 8d.
1772 Paving path in Churchyard 1s. 6d.
1776 Digging and carrying gravel to churchyard 12s.
1777 New Common Prayer Book £1 1s.
1780 New bell wheel 5s.
1785 Mr. William Reynolds slabs for steeple 2s. Other repairs to steeple
1786 Thanksgiving King's Deliverance from Assassination 1s.
1796 Mending pulleys 7s. 6d.
Eating and drinking when went "a Possening" £2 6s. 3d.
New spade for clerk 3s. 6d.
1798 Thanksgiving for Victory 1s.
1799 Thanksgiving for Admiral Nelson's victory over French Fleet 1s.
New Decalogue Board in church £20 13s
1801 Thanksgiving King's recovery 1s.
1805 John Farmer for hanging bells and new crown and staple to fourth bell £23 5s.
1810-12 New church clock by Mr. Hardwick of Ridgmont, £8 8s
1819 2 people attending Sessions at Woburn 7s.
1820 Mr. Rich new mat £1 5s.
1822 Mr. Warden at Bedford for search for people committed robbery at Westoning Church £4 14s. 5d.
1823 New books for singers and repair of musical instruments bass, viol and clarinets £1 10s. 6d.
Cleaning the church "when the Archdeacon came to inspect the church" 3s.
Making a privy for the Sunday School Boys, £2 17s, 1d.
1824 Inkstand for church 1s. 6d.
Mr. Stanbridge for repairing Comb Bridge 8s. 3d.
1825 New plated flaggon for communion table £1 15s. 6d.
Mr. Mellor new blue cloth for communion table £2 15s.
Mr. Stanbridge repairs to church £13 15s. 7½d.
Mr. Taylor bill for labour £9 15s. 10d.
1826 Painting pews, seats, end of Gallery and repair church windows £31
1828 George Rich for 18 hassocks £1 3s.
1829 George Rich long hassock in chancel before altar 15s.
1830 Recast third bell with new clapper £22 4s. 6d.
1832 Mr. Franklin new binding for Bible £1 7s. 6d.
1838 Mr. George Hyde repair pulpit cloth £1 14s.
Entry regarding laws, pews and duty of churchwardens entered by order of H.R. Bonney D.D. Archdeacon of Bedford August 23 1825 Covering dates of volume 1743 - 1841
Level of description
item