Stallibrass Almshouses, Barkway
The first recorded instance of the surname Stallibrass in Barkway was in 1539, when the baptism of Katherine Stallibrass was registered in the church. The name is chiefly found in the East of England, particularly in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, and Essex. It is early medieval English in origin and derives from either stalwart plus brase (Old French, meaning strong arms) or Middle English stale (meaning long or slender handle).
In 1746, John Stallibrass was born in the village and baptised in Barkway Church. He became a farmer and lived at Anstey Hall. In 1770, aged 24, he married Sarah Brett (aged 16). They went on to have two children, Thomas and Anne. Eventually, John and Sarah moved to a small farmhouse (Ashgrove Bury) in Barkway. He enlarged it and improved the garden and filled it with roses. It was said to be the prettiest house in the village. He was a very wealthy man and came to own nearly all the village and the surrounding farmland.
In July 1820, aged 74, he was found dead in his garden (due to heart disease) and was buried in the churchyard, in plot 253. In his will, he directed his executors to pay £5 per annum to the poor of Anstey and Barkway.
In 1909, his three great-granddaughters built Stallibrass Almshouses on the High Street in his memory — on the site of the Bell Inn. A stone plaque on the front of the building states:
Erected to the memory of John Stallibrass by his Great Granddaughters in the year 1909
The houses were “to house single women aged over 60 who had been born or had resided in Barkway, Nuthampstead, Reed, or Anstey.”