f 102 (Rendered 3 June) (Receipts)
...
| Item Receiued for the Whitsontyde sportes and all chardges deducted the Iust somme of | xviij li. ix s. viij d. |
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f 103v (Payments)
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| Item paid out of the moneys gayned at Whitsontide for Ladders, Buckettes, ffirehookes & other necessaries belonging to the Church | vij l. x s. 0 d. |
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| The somme of all the layinges out is Iust | xxxviij li. xiij s. iij d. |
| Soe there remaines in our handes ready to be deliuered to the next Churchwardens Iust | xj li. viij s. |
| ‸⸢besides those
which haue not paid⸣ of
which said some Ten poundes at
the least being gained at our whitsontide
sportes wee desire should remaine as a
stocke to the Church perpetuallie /
|
...
The entry about the fire fighting equipment provides some idea of the very practical things the Wantage wardens were using the Whitsun celebration money for. They not only repaired their church, they provided that it would be cared for.
From the note at the end of these accounts, there seems to be a desire that the extra money raised at the sports should be used as an investment. This desire was not fulfilled. Although the £11 8s 6d does appear in the income for the next year, work on the windows along with many charitable donations left a carry forward of only £2 14s.
Record title: St Peter and St Paul's
Churchwardens'
Accounts
Repository:
Bodl.
Shelfmark: MS. Top. Berks c.44
Repository location: Oxford
The rendering dates of the accounts are not tied to feast days. Before 1600 they were rendered mostly in April but in the seventeenth century they were sometimes rendered later in the year. Four churchwardens were elected each year – two from Wantage and one each from the village of Grove and the combined communities of Charlton and (West) Lockinge. The date when the new wardens were elected and the date when they received the accounts for the preceding year from the old wardens is often not the same, so it is not always possible to provide exact accounting years. The dates of the election of the chuchwardens have been noted in endnotes when they are known.
1565–1656; English; paper; i + 154 + i; 296mm x195mm; modern foliation (including ff 32a and 32b, 36a and 36b); bound in boards with modern maroon vinyl covering, gold-stamped title on spine: 'Wantage Churchwardens Accounts | MS | Top. Berks. | C.44.'