artest, is a small village less than four miles from Hargrave, but its character tells a different story to Hargrave. I say less than four miles as the crow flies because Hargrave, a long narrow village, stretches a good mile and a half from its centre and meets Hartest stretching the other way. By road it is about seven miles. Very much wealthier than Hargrave, it had a high concentration of cottage industry, There were farms within its boundaries but these simply supplied the wool and hide for the clothes and shoe industries.
The village had a population of around two-hundred in 1500 AD, fifty-six of whom were described as able-bodied men and ten are described as poor. Two of the poor labourers were drafted for the war in France.145 There were said to be nine separate trades in the village including shoemaker, baker, miller, clothier and brewer. The village rector, being William Lecheman, also served Glemsford and Hargrave churches146 William took over from Thomas Fletcher C1460.
By 1550 we can see a Lymmer family established under the umbrella of Hartest. Most likely, their farm was about one mile north east of Hartest proper, bordering the land the Bird family with whom later generations of the family were to have a dispute.147
William(1584.23), son of William(1548.U), first married Alice Stewart 25th May 1609 at Chevington. They had three children :
