Barton's Vicar Recieves Ten Shillings for Preaching Historic Good Friday Sermon
June 2019
Barton & Dunstall Key Trust, successors to the 17th Century
gift of William Key, is maintaining the condition of his bequest
that the Vicar of Barton should be paid ten shillings yearly to
deliver a sermon on Good Friday.
This year's sermon, the 368th. since the death of William Key
in 1651 was preached at St James' Parish Church in Barton under
Needwood by the Rev. Andrew Ridley, vicar of Barton, and he was
presented with a ten bob note by Key Trustee Dr David Okoye. It
is believed that this tradition is one of the oldest of its kind
surviving in Britain.
When the numerous charities of Barton & Dunstall were
reformed into the Barton & Dunstall Key Trust in 1972 there was
an opportunity to bring the value up to date but Trustees
honoured William Key's covenant & memory by maintaining the
payment at the 1651 sum. Present day value of ten shillings,
allowing for inflation varies between £58 and nearly £1,000 if
it is related to present average earnings.
Andrew Ridley said "It's a wonderful tradition but it
makes me wonder why it was thought necessary to have to pay the
Vicar of Barton what was then quite a tidy sum to deliver a Good
Friday sermon - what was going on all those years ago?"
William Key, 17th century landowner and keeper of the Barton
Ward of Needwood Forest, died on 10th October 1651 aged
sixty-nine. He left various plots of land the rents of which
were to be distributed to the poor of the villages of Barton
under Needwood and Dunstall. Over the years some have been sold,
including that now under the Barton Business Park, and
investments now produce the majority of the Trust's income. Some
land remains in the safekeeping of the Barton & Dunstall Key
Trust most notably the Trust's allotments in Dogshead Lane .