The bishop of Ely
as overlord of Horningsea had return of writs,
view of frankpledge, and the assize of bread and
of ale, and had a gallows in 1279. (fn. 19) Tenants of
Edmund Pecche attended a court which was
probably held at Eye by the 1270s. A few court
rolls for Eye manor survive from between 1378
and 1398. (fn. 20) By then the court sometimes met
twice a year and handled tenurial and other business; two wardens for the manor were mentioned in 1378. (fn. 21) In the late 16th and early 17th
centuries Eye manor court books dealt with the
repair of water courses, as well as with agricultural business. (fn. 22) The parish had two collectors
for the poor after 1574 and two churchwardens
in 1579. Two constables were serving in 1674,
and two overseers in 1696. (fn. 23) From the late 18th
century into the 19th parish affairs were managed by the principal farmers, and some officers
served over long periods. (fn. 24) The churchwardens
and overseers received £5 for the parish from
the farmers of Free fen in 1609 and continued
to do so until the 1840s. (fn. 25)
Horningsea, Fen Ditton, and Milton combined in 1800 to convert a row of cottages in
Horningsea into a Gilbert union workhouse,
managed by three guardians, three visitors, and
a governor; it remained in use until c. 1836. (fn. 26) In
1802-3 £39 was spent on indoor poor relief, and
£133 on outdoor relief. (fn. 27) Between 1816 and
1820 expenditure fluctuated around £263, but
between 1821 and 1834 ranged between £136
and £209. From 1836 Horningsea was incorporated in the Chesterton poor-law union, from
1894 in Chesterton rural district, and from 1974
in South Cambridgeshire district. (fn. 28)
Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), ii. 431, 442. For Fen Ditton
with Horningsea manor's manorial court, above, Fen Ditton,
||P.R.O., C 111/80.
||Ibid., mm. 3, 5, 12d.
||Ibid. LR 3/60-1.
||C.R.O., P 94/1/1; C.U.L., E.D.R., D 2/10, ff. 11v., 233.
||C.R.O., P 94/4/1; P 94/11/1; P 94/12/1.
||Ibid. P 94/1/1; P 94/11/1.
||Ibid. P 94/18/1-6.
||Poor relief figures based on Poor Law Abstract, 1804,
36-7; Poor Rate Returns, 1816-21, 10-11; 1822-24, 37-8;
1825-9, 15-17; 1830-4, 15-16.
||Youngs, Guide, i. 51, 575.