The legacy could not become active until after the death of William Beton's wife, Katherine, so the first Foeffment for the Town Estate was drawn up in 1485, with a total of twenty-four Foeffees. They met once a year, on November 2nd, to collect the rents and present bills for the disbursements. The disposal of the funds was the responsibility of four Town Wardens, who were elected annually from amongst the Foeffees, and drew up a set of accounts to be approved at the meeting each year. Most of these accounts still survive, from 1511 until the late 19th century, and provide a fascinating insight into everyday life in Bardwell.

    The Foeffees set up an annual commemoration of the benefactors of Bardwell, to be held on July 7th, the Feast of St Thomas Becket. This was one of the most important of the English holy days, when people had a day off from work, and after attending mass would spend the rest of the day eating, drinking and enjoying themselves. A dole of bread, cheese and beer was provided by the Foeffees to all the parishioners, in return for which they were expected to pray for the souls of the benefactors. These prayers, intended to shorten the time the departed soul spent in Purgatory, were in fact the main purpose of bequests such as William Beton's

    In 1537, however, Henry VIII, as part of his Reformation of the Church, abolished the cult of St Thomas Becket, and his holy days. Purgatory, and prayers for the dead, soon followed, but somehow the 'Town Drinking', as it came to be called, survived. The date was moved to All Soul's Day, 2nd November, when the Town Estate accounts were reckoned, but the same amount of beer was brewed, and bread baked, as in pre-Reformation days, and this dole continued to be distributed to every house in the village, long after its original meaning had been forgotten,

    Before long, the Town Estate became the subject of controversy. In 1544, William Beton's grand-daughters and their husbands took the Foeffees to court to try and regain the Bardwell land, and John Cage, one of the Town Wardens, rode down to London to answer the summons, claiming expenses of 2d each way for himself and his horse. He returned with a copy of the Chancery Decree which confirmed the parish's occupation of the land as legitimate, but the intent of William Beton's will, and the uses to which the money was put, continued to be questioned. Another Chancery Decree of 1639 appropriated the Town Estate to the service of the church and the good of the parish "in such things as shall be most needful".

    This still allowed plenty of scope, and the custom of the Town Drinking began to expand. The beer, bread and cheese continued to be distributed to every household on All Saint's Day, November 1st. In addition, the Foeffees and tenants, at their meeting on the following day, All Soul's Day, awarded themselves a separate 'entertainment', with more beer and bread, and roast beef instead of the cheese. By 1673, they were even claiming their tobacco for the occasion from the Town Estate.

    Complaints were made, and the Foeffees were accused of misapplication of funds, particularly with regard to their own entertainment.  In 1700, Mr Weld, a Bury lawyer, was consulted for his opinion. He was clear enough on another long-standing uncertainty, as to whether the poor of the parish had any claim on the money under the intent of the Will; they had none, but could be paid with the Foeffees agreement if no taxes were due. As far as the entertainment was concerned, his evasive answer threw the decision back on the village, and so the Town Drinking survived once more.

    In 1773, a new young Rector, David Davenport. arrived in the village. The Rector was always automatically included amongst the Foeffees of the Town Estate, and when Mr Davenport attended the meeting in November of that year, he entered this emphatic note at the end of the page of accounts:

"I protest against the above disbursement of the profits of the Town Lands of Bardwell, as far as it is extended to the ease of any of the taxes which ought to be yearly imposed upon the substantial inhabitants of the town, or to the expenses of private meetings, or any other expenses which do not lead to the worship of god, and which are unprofitable to the poor and necessitous inhabitants, as I conceive such disbursement to be contrary to the will of Beton and the rest of the Benefactors, contrary to a Decree of the Court of Chancery, and altogether contrary to the very notion of charity."

His indignation is clear, and his intentions admirable, but he seems to have been sadly lacking in diplomacy, and can hardly have endeared himself to his parishioners. The Foeffees must have felt they were being accused of dishonesty, whilst the poorer people of the village were left with the impression that they had been cheated of their rights for generations. At Mr Davenport's insistence, the Town Drinking was stopped with immediate effect, but the resentments and suspicions over the charities lingered on, and erupted again in the 1890s in a bitter dispute that continued into the 20th century, and required another lawyer's opinion before it could be resolved.

Researched by Ruth Stokes