Barkway, Hertfordshire

Historical Description

Barkway, a small town and a parish in Herts. The town stands on a rising-ground near the sources of the Quin river, 4½ miles SSE of Royston station on the G.N.R. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Royston, was formerly a market-town; 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. The parish includes also the hamlets of Newsells and Nuthampstead. Area of Barkway, 3251 acres; of Nuthampstead, 1960 acres; population of the civil parish, 761; of the ecclesiastical, 1174; of Nuthampstead, 207. The manor belonged to the Chesters and the Jenningses. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Reed, in the diocese of St Albans; net yearly value, £316. The church is an ancient structure, which was restored in 1862, and the tower rebuilt. There are a Congregational chapel, a reading room, and some small charities.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Findmypast, in association with the Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Barkway

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Barkway from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Barkway (St. Mary Magdalene))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Hertfordshire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Barkway are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Hertfordshire newspapers online:

• Hertford Mercury and Reformer
• Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser
• Watford Observer

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Hertfordshire, 1572 and 1634. Edited by Walter C. Metcalfe, F.S.A. is available on the Heraldry page.