It appears by the recitals in a decree in the Duchy Court of Lancaster, made 8th July 1595, that John Wright, by his Will, devised a parcel of land called the Town Close, or New Close, to the Town of Soham, as well towards the payment of the taske or fifteenth of the said Town, as to maintain an anniversary or obit.
The date of Wright's Will is not mentioned in the decree in the Duchy Court; but it appears by the recitals in the decree in Chancery respecting Bond's Charity, in which suit Wright's gift was comprehended, that it was made on or about 7th August 1500.
It seems, however, that Wright did not die for many years after the making of his Will, for in the proceedings in the suit just referred to, it is stated, that about the 31st Hen.VIII, Andrew Wheeler, cousin, and next heir of Wright, to the intent that his Will might be fully observed, enfeoffed John Harrison, and six others, then inhabitants of the Town of Soham, of the Close called New Close, with the appurtenances, to hold to them and their heirs, to the use and behoof in the last Will and testament of the said John Wright declared and expressed.
It appears by the decree obtained from the Duchy Office, that the proceedings in that Court were instituted to set aside a lease of the New Close, which had been obtained under the seal of the Duchy, by Robert Younglove, in the pleadings named.
The decree, however, directed that the feoffees mentioned in a deed shown by the defendant, bearing date the 20th day of April, in the 31st year of King Henry VIII., and their heirs, should have and enjoy the moiety of the same Close towards the payment of the taske aforesaid, and the said Robert Younglove the other moiety; paying unto Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, the sum of 6s. 8d. by the year, during the term of 21 years; and after the expiration of the said term, it was further ordered and decreed, by the Chancellor and Council of the said Court, that the said feoffees, their heirs and assigns, of Soham, aforesaid, should, by force and virtue of the decree, have and continue the quiet possession of the whole Close for ever, towards the payment of the taske aforesaid, paying unto her Majesty, her heirs and successors, for ever, the  yearly rent of 6s. 8d. With a proviso that the order, or anything therein contained, should not be prejudicial unto such right and title as one Edward Bernes, Gentleman, claimed in and to three roods of land lying in the said Close, if he had any right or title thereunto.
The suit in the Court of Chancery, before referred to, which principally related to Bonds gift, sought relief against the lease thus partially established; but the bill, as far as related to Wright's gift, was dismissed, as being within the proper jurisdiction of the Duchy Court.
By deed poll, dated 22nd April 1717, reciting the feoffment of Andrew Wheeler above mentioned; a subsequent feoffment by Richard Peachey, heir of William Peachey, the surviving feoffee, dated 4th May, 2d Charles I., to Thomas Clarke, and others, and thier heirs; and a subsequent feoffment by William Clarke of Barway, the heir of Thomas Clarke, dated 7th May 1675, in trust, and to and for the use and behoof, and in performance of the last Will and testament of the said John Wright, and according to the use and purport of a certain decree in the Duchy Court, bearing the date 8th day of July 1595, Thomas Trowell and William Cropley, surviving feoffees in the deed last mentioned, enfeoffed Edward Trowell, ( son of the said Thomas Trowell, ) William Cropley, ( son of the said William Cropley, ) Thomas Cockayne the younger, Thomas Neathercote, William Mayer, John Norfolk, Ellis Peachey, ( son of Edward Peachey, ) William Cropley, ( son of Widow Cropley, ) and William Blows the younger, of the premises, by the description of a Close, called New Close alias Town Close, in Soham, near a street called Brook-street, next the messuage and ground of Thomas Neathercote on the East, and three roods of the same Close, then Town ground, late Tyler's on the West, the North head abutting upon a Common way leading to Brook-street, and the South head upon the Lane leading from Brook-street to Sand-street, to hold to the,, and their heirs. upon the trusts declared in the Will and decree.
No subsequent conveyance was produced, and it does not appear which of the trustees survived, nor in whom the legal estate is vested.
In the proceedings in Chancery, the New Close is mentioned to contain four acres or thereabouts. Possibly the three roods, mentioned in the decree in the Duchy Court, may have been recovered by Bernes, whose right was there reserved to him.
The land belonging to Wright's Charity now consists of three acres in excellent condition, held by free charter of the Manor of Soham, at a rent of 6s. 8d. paid by the lessor. It is let to Thomas Neathercote for six years, from Michaelmas 1831, at a rent of £10. regularly paid.
The exact purpose of this Charity was unknown at the time of the Inquiry, and indeed was not ascertained until upwards of a year afterwards, when the documents as already mentioned were discovered in the Vicarage. It was supposed to have been given in 1540, for the repairs of the Church, and the rent has hitherto been paid to the Churchwardens, and, until lately, carried to their general funds. A separate account is now kept of it.
From long and uninterrupted usage, it may now fairly be inferred, that when the fifteenth ceased to be levied, the Parishioners agreed to devote the land to its present purpose.